merlin / alex glowMar 13

One of my favorite sites is https://etymonline.com – it adds so much nerd-joy to my life! Recently subscribed to support them, and now I wanna see if they're open to making a .ZIM file for #Kiwix 🤔

Saw this fun exchange today and [linguistics ramble loading...]

// Edited to link the EOL entry for "griffin" (to which "griffon" and "gryphon" are linked as alternatives): https://www.etymonline.com/word/griffin
There's more surprising history in there too!

Show threadmerlin / alex glow

Anyways, my guess is it has to do with being an infrequently-used word (for most of us) which entered English before orthography was standardized so much.

I'm a big fan of doublets – where the same word is imported multiple times, sometimes with v different meanings, sometimes quite similar (like "warden" & "guardian"): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doublet_(linguistics)

Doublet (linguistics) - Wikipedia

Mar 13 at 7:59pmWeb
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13

In language learning, I love the surprise overlaps that teach you more about the words you already know.
Like how "parable" and "parabola" are the same word in Spanish! And French "travailler" links English "movement" and "challenges" to Spanish "work".

The inter-connections add so much dimension, and reveal the depth of history: like the vast influence of Arabic, coming from ancient scientists & the Umayyad Caliphate in Iberia. Alchemy! ✨

Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13

Another fun English fact: "a napron" -> "an apron"

A bunch of words used to have Ns on the front, but were misinterpreted over time! The same thing happened in the other direction, too. Lots of examples (and related phenomena) here: https://www.etymonline.com/word/N

N - Etymology, Origin & Meaning of the Name

"an island," early 13c.), a narawe ("an arrow," c. 1400), a nox ("an ox," c. 1400), a… See origin and meaning of n.

etymonline
Show threadAccount has movedMar 13

@alexglow

I had to look this one up because apron is "tablier" in french, and "naperon" is napkin, but it seems "apron" did indeed derive from "naperon". Neat!

Possibly my favourite doublet is my friend Guillaume who has a son named WIlliam - they are technically the same name, but also not.

Show threadEzekiel Mar 13
@alexglow Annoyingly this is not entirely true, the same website says that `apple` comes from a different source, not `napple`. It does appear to be true for apron though! https://www.etymonline.com/word/apple
Apple - Etymology, Origin & Meaning

"apple; any kind of fruit; fruit in general," from Proto-Germanic *ap(a)laz (source also… See origin and meaning of apple.

etymonline
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 14
@ezekiel Yeah, the apple thing confuses me too! I wonder where/how those wires got crossed. I guess etymology is a messy business
Show threadNick PooleMar 14
@alexglow My favorite YouTuber for this kind of thing is Simon Roper
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 14
@North Looks fun! I'll have to check him out :)
Show threadÖlbaumMar 17
@alexglow It’s from French, that’s so funny, I had no idea.
Show threadLRMar 13
@alexglow etymology is recreational medicine
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13
@lritter Honestly, I'm so so so bad at world history & geography, but I'd be so excited to take a course that taught them through the lens of linguistics.
My grasp of the subject is basically a bunch of separate photos pinned up on the wall, and I'd love to take a few weeks and a ball of red string to draw all the connections 😸
Show threadɗ𐐩ʃƕρʋMar 13
@alexglow I always check the wiktionary and click through the etymologies down to the proto-indo-european, and then back up to some other language I know. There are always some amusing connections.
Show threadTom ForsythMar 13
@alexglow I like how when animals are walking around we use the Anglo-Saxon (cow, pig, sheep), but when they're food we use French (beef, pork, mutton). Because it was Anglo-Saxon peasants who looked after the former, and it was French-speaking nobility that ate the latter.
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13
@TomF Yesss! :D
Show threadNeo EhproqueMar 13
@alexglow I'm not gonna lie. took me a while to figure out what you meant by parable and parabola
(I'm Spanish)
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13
@ehproque It definitely took me a minute, when I heard "parábola" in a Spanish-language vid about history! Then I ran over to Etymonline and was like
Show threadNeo EhproqueMar 13
@alexglow wait
Palabra comes from parabola? WTF 🤯
Show thread[email protected]Mar 13
Oh word?
@ehproque @alexglow
Show threadNeo EhproqueMar 13
@tedward @alexglow yeah, also no idea how that big heart ended up there
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13
@ehproque @tedward I use the blue heart a lot, so I barely noticed XD
Show threadNeo EhproqueMar 13
@alexglow @tedward but it was not an emoji it was massive!
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13
@tedward @ehproque good one :3
Show threadLynxMar 13
@alexglow I'm addicted to RobWords videos for this very reason.
Show threadmerlin / alex glowMar 13
@Lynx Oooo, nice! I like his energy. There's another guy who stares into the camera and kinda rails about linguistics with a frenetic energy, and it's always jarring imo. This fella is much more pleasant to listen to. Subscribe'd :D
Show threadLynxMar 13
@alexglow He's also on Nebula now, if you have that 👍