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The study of the history of words including their origins and the changes they've undergone through time.
1
vote
The etymological dictionary of Persian by Mohammad Hassandust
Hassandust needs to be taken with a grain of salt. I do not generally have much positive to say about Wiktionary, but the Persian etymologies there are often very good. Some competent person has had a …
13
votes
Nations' names for themselves with foreign etymologies
America has its name from the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, whose first name is of Germanic origin.
Việt Nam is Middle Chinese, meaning “Southern Yue”.
Iraq is (probably) from Middle Persian ērag …
4
votes
Accepted
Does the Arabic word for ‘flock’ come from ‘booty’, or is it the other way round?
The root ġ-n-m occurs in Arabic, Ancient South Arabian (Sabaic), and Modern South Arabian (Harsusi); otherwise there are no Semitic cognates. In Sabaic it forms a noun “booty” and a verb “to plunder”; …
1
vote
Are PIE *bal and *welH- related?
The name is a compound of Sanskrit bhūmi- “land” and (I assume) bala- “strength”. The latter is (as has been mentioned) cognate to Greel βελτίων, “better”, so with IE *b not *w-.
2
votes
Accepted
Can these similarities between PIE and Burushaski be explained?
A genetic relation between Burushaski and IE has been argued by Ilija Çasule (Macquarie University). This is not as yet widely accepted, but it is worthy of serious discussion and not simply rejected …
3
votes
Etymological relationship between picture/image and education/formation
The development in German is the noun Bild “picture, image”, then the verb bilden “to make a picture, form, create”, then figuratively “to educate, to form someone’s character”, Bildung “education” et …
-1
votes
Accepted
ʕattiq, antiquus
The similarity is a coincidence. The book can definitely be closed.
14
votes
Accepted
Etymology of the Turkish word "rüzgâr"
The semantic shift seems to be: time > weather > wind
For the first step compare Latin tempus “time” > French temps (“time, weather”).
For the second compare German Wetter (“weather”) with Russian vet …
7
votes
Is there a common ancestor between the Hebrew לבן ("lavan", white) and the English "albino"?
If we are looking for a Semitic parallel to IE *h₂elbh-o- > Lat. albus a better candidate might be the Semitic word for “milk”, Arabic ḥalab, Hebrew ḥālāḇ, Aramaic ḥalḇā, conceivably a Wanderwort or a …
7
votes
Is the word for "brother-in-law" in Germanic languages related to the Aramaic/Syriac גיס?
I do not have an etymology for this, but it really does not look anything like Indo-European *sueḱuro- or any of its descendants. …
7
votes
Accepted
Prefix a(n)- in Sanskrit and English
anitya is a compound of the negative prefix a- and nitya- “lasting, permanent”.
As you point out, the negative particle is an- before a vowel and a- before a consonant (as here). English words with ne …
1
vote
Why is six and seven so similar in many languages?
Do you know how to count to ten in Malay/Indonesian? satu dua tiga empat lima enam tujuh delapan sembilan sepuluh. That’s right: “two” is dua. Looks just like Latin, Greek, English, take your pick. Is …
18
votes
Why is the word "war" in Romance languages predominantly of Germanic origin instead of Latin?
The basic meaning of the Germanic *wirr is “disorder, chaos” etc. The shift in meaning to “warfare” originated in Frankish and is attested since the 9th century in High German, English, but not Franki …
8
votes
Ultimate Etymology of "Ides"?
Idus does not have a recognised Indo-European etymology. The concept of a “Nostratic” super-language is not mainstream linguistic doctrine. …
6
votes
Isn't the supposed development in German "schön" > "schon" typologically unlikely
The adjective schön goes back to Old High German scōni (the umlaut in the first syllable is caused by the /i/ in the second). The adverb schon is from OHG scōno (without umlaut). So it is not really t …