Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 2 1 2
#120604 01/20/04 07:27 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79
H
journeyman
OP Offline
journeyman
H
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79
A thought:

Together is obviously related to the verb "gather". But it works in German (sammeln - zusammen) and French ((ras)sembler - ensemble) too, even though the roots are different. Nice bit of parallel development.


#120605 01/20/04 08:33 PM
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
B
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
B
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
That is interesting Hib. It seems to coincidental that the same thing repeats itself in several languages. Can you give us the ethymology of the words please? Maybe, some time in the past they did spring from the same word.


#120606 01/20/04 11:41 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79
H
journeyman
OP Offline
journeyman
H
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 79
Well, I've been known to bark up the wrong tree before, but Latin simul (together, at once, at the same time, as soon as) is related to Sanskrit samas (same) and Greek omos, ama (same). Dutch has samen meaning together, so it's tempting to see the same root and link it with "sammeln", but I don't honestly know.

Come to think of it, Finnish has samalainen meaning "same", so either that's one for the Nostraticists, or came from Germanic. Or just a coincidence.


#120607 01/21/04 01:30 AM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Finnish does have a lot of Germanic words insinuated into it. I think Nuncle jheem gave us the two bit tour a short time ago.


#120608 01/21/04 02:44 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Yes, sammeln is related to English same, Greek hama, homos, Old Irish som 'the same', samail 'image, picture', Welsh hafal , Breton haval 'similar, like'. From the PIE *sem- 'one' which also gives Latin semper 'always' and German sanft 'soft'. As for the Finnish, your guess is as good as mine. I keep meaning to get a good historical Finnish dictionary.


#120609 01/21/04 02:46 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Finnish does have Germanic loanwords. I don't think I've said anything about it here though. Also, Finno-Ugric languages have a good number of Iranian laonwords, too.


#120610 01/21/04 12:07 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Mebbe it was Sir Humphrey at wordorigins.


#120611 01/21/04 04:10 PM
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
The lovelies AnnaS and birdfeed had devised a theory about the differences between the two major European members of this family:

http://wordsmith.org/board/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=wordplay&Number=100461


#120612 01/25/04 03:39 PM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
J
veteran
Offline
veteran
J
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 1,475
Heidegger, the etymologizing philosopher, has a discussion about Gk logos usually translated as 'reason, speech, word' (which in turn was translated into L. as ratio 'reckoning; reason'; cognates: L. lego 'to gather, collect; read (aloud); choose' (cf. college), legio 'legion, a body of soldiers'. He drew comparisons with the German Ding and English thing as words for generic objects as well as for a gathering (cf. Icelandic alþing 'gathering, parliament', a Romano-German god's name Mars Thinxus (for *Tius þingsaz 'der Gott der Versammlung, the god of the assembly'). (I think it's discussed in his Building, Dwelling, Thinking.)


#120613 01/27/04 03:24 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
And "lego" now means "small plastic block which hurts like the dickens when you step on it."


Page 1 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 442 guests, and 3 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5