Register Log In Wordsmith Talk Forums General Topics Q&A about words wal-- Search Advanced Forum Search Forums Calendar Active Threads

Previous Thread Next Thread Print Thread wal-- #185466 06/25/2009 2:50 PM Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 1 katetx stranger katetx stranger Joined: Jun 2009 Posts: 1 The definition for "countervail" included this: "Ultimately, from the Indo-European root wal- (to be strong) that is also the source of valiant, avail, valor, and value." I wonder if wali (Encarta Encycl. "Wali, honorific title in Islam, given to a saint or wise and holy person, especially to the Sufi masters. In Arabic it means “defender, companion,...") is related? Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: wal-- katetx #185470 06/26/2009 1:15 AM Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel zmjezhd Carpal Tunnel Joined: Aug 2005 Posts: 3,290 R'lyeh In Arabic it means “defender, companion,...") is related? I doubt it. Arabic descends from a (reconstructed) Proto-Semitic (as do Hebrew, Aramaic, and Amharic). Proto-Indo-Eruopean is reconstructed from the various Indo-European languages. To go back farther is probably not possible. (Although some have tried. You might look for a Nostratic forum to ask.) It's probably just a chance similarity. Ceci n'est pas un seing. Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Re: wal-- zmjezhd #185471 06/26/2009 2:06 AM Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Jackie Carpal Tunnel Jackie Carpal Tunnel Joined: Mar 2000 Posts: 11,613 Louisville, Kentucky Isn't it interesting how different languages developed? Some more vowelized, some more consonantized, some melodic, some harsh-sounding; then there are languages such as Chinese: does that even have vowels and consonants? Lots of dependence on intonation, I understand. And, I was just thinking yesterday about the African languages that include clicking (can't think of what that's called), and how that might have developed, as in: perhaps people started using a particular group of clicks to mean, say, run; then added...uh, what to call it?--sounds that could be spelled, perhaps--for different pre-/suffixes, tenses, or something. Click-oo would mean running, click-ah would mean ran. [shrug] Copy Link to Clipboard Share Post on Facebook Share Post on Twitter Moderated by  Jackie  Hop To General Topics ------  Information and announcements  Q&A about words  Wordplay and fun  Words and languages in schools  Miscellany  Weekly Themes  Looking for (writers, speakers,... (Old) Weekly themes. (have been... ------  Words from medicine  Beheading words  Meta-words  Words from classical mythology  Animal Safari  Words with unusual etymologies  Eponyms or words derived from p...  Loanwords from German  English as a global language Print Thread Switch to Threaded Mode Show Likes Link Copied to Clipboard View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Website Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary View Profile Private Message Follow User Forum Posts Like Summary

Default Style BlackNTan Drab eBay GooG v2 infopop new dark new light original dark original stock rounded corners Slate snow sunny dropshadow theblues Touch Of Grey UBB.threads UBB.threads - Dark UBB.threads - Light UBBCentral UBBCentral - Crimson UBBCentral - Lime UBBCentral - Marshmallow UBBCentral - Mocha UBBCentral - Zen UBBT77 UBBT77 - Dark ubbthreads ubbthreads-dark Forum Rules · Mark All Read Contact Us · Forum Help · Wordsmith Talk