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#81130 09/19/02 12:24 PM
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of troy Offline OP
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the thread started by Dr bill, on Punjab, (which seems to be the land of the five rivers,) changed directions . but i kept thinking about it..
http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=weeklythemes&Number=81002
Mesapotamia came up, i.e., the land between the two rivers, and i thought of hippopotamus, (horse of the river, or more commonly river horse with the potumos ending meaning river.. and i wondered how river and feather had the same root -- and looked it up, here is the link,
http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE405.html
and wow, what a list of words !
The commonality seems to be rapid movement -- (to fly, to rush,) and from there many movement words, and feather related words... ) and while there are many links, i can think of one or two words related to the root that are not listed.. and i suspect others can add more! but even the ones what are listed , offer a wealth of fun.

what does panache Dash, Verve have to do with ptomaine a nitrogenous organic compound produced by bacterial putrefaction ?

the text below, is incomplete, since images of some of the symbols used don't copy well.. and the original has many links..

Pet(symbol)-
Also pet- (oldest form *pet1-). To rush, fly. Variant *pte1-, contracted to *pt-. Derivatives include feather, compete, perpetual, ptomaine, symptom, and hippopotamus. 1. Suffixed form *pet-r-. feather, from Old English fether, feather, from Germanic *fethr, feather. 2. –petal, petition, petulant; appetite, compete, impetigo, impetuous, impetus, perpetual, repeat, from Latin petere, to go toward, seek. 3. Suffixed form *pet-n-. panache, pen1, penna, pennate, pennon, pin, pinna, pinnacle, pinnate, pinnati-, pinnule; empennage, from Latin penna, pinna, feather, wing. 4. Suffixed form *pet-ro- in compound *aku-petro- (see ku-). 5. Suffixed form *pet-yo-. propitious, from Latin propitius, favorable, gracious, originally a religious term meaning “falling or rushing forward,” hence “eager,” “well-disposed” (said of the gods; pr-, forward; see per1). 6. Suffixed zero-grade form *pt-ero-. –pter; acanthopterygian, aminopterin, apteryx, archaeopteryx, coleopteran, dipteral, mecopteran, orthopteran, peripteral, plecopteran, pteridology, pterygoid, sauropterygian, from Greek pteron, feather, wing, and pterux, wing. 7. Suffixed zero-grade form *pt-ilo-. coleoptile, from Greek ptilon, soft feathers, down, plume. 8. Suffixed variant form *pt-no-. stearoptene, from Greek ptnos, winged, flying. 9. Reduplicated form *pi-pt-. ptomaine, ptosis; asymptote, peripeteia, proptosis, symptom, from Greek piptein, to fall, with verbal adjective pttos (< pt-to-), falling, fallen, and nominal derivatives ptsis (< *pt-ti-), a fall, and ptm (< *pt-m), a fall, fallen body, corpse. 10. O-grade form *pot-. hippopotamus, potamology, from Greek potamos “rushing water,” river (-amo-, Greek suffix). 11. Suffixed form *pet-tro-. talipot, from Sanskrit pattram, feather, leaf. (Pokorny 2. pet- 825.)


#81131 09/19/02 01:12 PM
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Dear of troy: A fabulous find. Worth a lot of time to read and re-read. I hadn't seen "ptomaine"
for a long time. Before bacteria were discovered, it was thought some kinds of food poisoning
were due to breakdown of proteins, and called "ptomaine poisoning." My father had a
Mrs. Malaprop complain to him that she had "pantomime poisoning."
I expect to spend a lot of time going over that goldmine again. Thanks, of troy.



#81132 09/20/02 01:09 AM
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Is "potable water" somewhat redundant, then? Maybe not, I suppose, if compared to standing/stagnant water. unless it means it can be carted about from place to place down south


#81133 09/20/02 10:23 AM
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Or is potable water water that you can put into a river?

Different roots: Potable from Latin potare, to drink, traces back to PIE poi-, to drink. The Greek traces back to the PIE root pet-, to rush, fly.


#81134 09/20/02 11:22 AM
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Yeah, some people fly to drink on Friday afternoons--happy hours with potable concoctions.


#81135 09/20/02 11:53 AM
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of troy Offline OP
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re:--happy hours with potable concoctions.

More often called potent potables!

and Wof, potable water is often not redundent. at road construction sites, they some times have a tank (truck) with water to wash down the road, and another smaller tank of potable water. and good quality garden hoses can deliver potable water --but sometimes cheap ones are not safe to drink from and so labeled.


#81136 09/20/02 12:59 PM
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Try drinking sea water and then you'll appreciate potable water.


#81137 09/21/02 03:35 PM
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What I meant by "redundant" was the rendering of potable water as "water-of-the-river water." Certainly drinkable water, as opposed to keep-the-dust-down-on-the-road water, is a valid distinction.

Haven't thought of that usage in a long time though (warm thoughts emoticon); I must have stayed too close to big cities for too long, and haven't seen any dirt roads in the summertime lately...


#81138 09/21/02 07:53 PM
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"water-of-the-river water."

Aha! My misunderstanding was correct after all!


#81139 09/21/02 08:09 PM
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This week's theme was words that have changed their meaning. "Panache" is surely one
of those. My dictionary says:dashing elegance of manner; carefree, spirited self-confidence or style; flamboyance.
One feather in your cap won't do it. You have to be confident everybody knows you have had
many dozens of them in the past.



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