Monthly etymology gleanings for July 2014

By Anatoly Liberman

Because I’ll be out of town at the close of July, I was not confident I would be in a position to publish these “gleanings.” But the questions have been many, and I could answer some of them in advance of time.

Autumn: its etymology

Our correspondent wonders irrespective of whether the Latin word from which English, via French, has autumn, could be recognized with the identify of the Egyptian god Autun. The Romans derived the term autumnus, which was the two an adjective (“autumnal”) and a noun (“autumn”), from augere “to improve.” This verb’s best participle is auctus “rich (“autumn as a abundant season”). The Roman derivation, however not implausible, seems to be like a tribute to folks etymology. A much more major conjecture allies autumn to the Germanic root aud-, as in Gothic aud–ags “blessed” (in the relevant languages, also “rich”). But, far more likely, Latin autumnus goes back again to Etruscan. The most important argument for the Etruscan origin is the resemblance of autumnus to Vertumnus, the identify of a seasonal deity (or so it would seem), about whom tiny is known other than the tale of his seduction, in the shape of an outdated woman, of Pomona, as advised by Ovid. Vertumnus, or Vortumnus, might be a Latinized type of an Etruscan title. A definite summary about autumnus is barely possible, even though some resources, even though tracing this term to Etruscan, include “without question.” The Egyptian Autun was a development god and the god of the location sunshine, so that his connection with autumn is remote at very best. Nor do we have any proof that Autun experienced a cult in Historical Rome. All the things is so uncertain listed here that the origin of autumnus ought to demands keep on being mysterious. In my viewpoint, the Egyptian speculation retains out small assure.

The origin of so lengthy

I gained an intriguing letter from Mr. Paul Nance. He writes about so long:

“It seems the kind of expression that should really have derived from some fuller social nicety, such as I regret that it will be so lengthy right before we satisfy once more or the like, but no 1 has proposed a apparent antecedent. An oddity is its unexpected appearance in the early nineteenth century there are only a handful of sightings right before Walt Whitman’s use of it in a poem (including the title) in the 1860-1861 version of Leaves of Grass. I can, by the way, give an antedating to the OED citations: so, excellent bye, so long in the tale ‘Cruise of a Guinean Man’. Knickerbocker: New York (Regular monthly Journal 5, February 1835, p. 105 available on Google Guides). Specified the absence of a fuller antecedent, solutions as to its origin all propose a borrowing from a further language. Does this feel affordable to you?”

Mr. Nance was variety enough to append two content (by Alan S. Kaye and Joachim Grzega) on so lengthy, each of which I had in my folders but have not reread because 2004 and 2005, when I found and copied them. Grzega’s contribution is primarily in-depth. My database is made up of only a single more tiny remark on so very long by Frank Penny: “About twenty many years in the past I was educated that it [the expression so long] is allied to Samuel Pepys’s expression so house, and must be penned so together or so ’long, this means that the person utilizing the expression need to go his way” (Notes and Queries, Series 12, vol. IX, 1921, p. 419). The group so home does change up in the Diary additional than once, but no citation I could uncover appears like a formulation. Perhaps Stephen Goranson will ferret it out. In any scenario, so lengthy appears to be like an Americanism, and it is not likely that these a preferred phrase should really have remained dormant in texts for almost two generations.

Be that as it may well, I agree with Mr. Nance that a system of this style likely arose in civil discussion. The quite a few tries to obtain a overseas source for it have very little conviction. Norwegian does have an pretty much similar phrase, but, due to the fact its antecedents are mysterious, it may possibly have been borrowed from English. I suspect (a favorite convert of speech by aged etymologists) that so extensive is in truth a curtailed edition of a at the time additional comprehensible parting method, until it belongs with the likes of for auld lang sine. It could have been brought to the New Earth from England or Scotland and later on abbreviated and reinterpreted.

“Heavy rain” in languages other than English

Once I wrote a article titled “When it rains, it does not always pour.” There I talked about several German and Swedish idioms like it is raining cats and canines, and, alternatively than recycling that textual content, will refer our previous correspondent Mr. John Larsson to it.

Ukraine and Baltic area names

The comment on this issue was welcome. In my response, I most well-liked not to talk about the points alien to me, but I wondered irrespective of whether the Latvian location name could be of Slavic origin. That is why I reported cautiously: “If this is a native Latvian word…” The problem, as I realize, remains unanswered, but the suggestion is tempting. And certainly, of system, Serb/Croat Krajna is an actual counterpart of Ukraina, only without the need of a prefix. In Russian, worry falls on i in Ukrainian, I assume, the initially a is stressed. The very same holds for the derived adjectives: ukrainskii ~ ukrainskii. Pushkin reported ukrainskaia (feminine).

Slough, sloo, and the rest

A lot of many thanks to individuals who informed me about their pronunciation of slough “mire.” It was new to me that the surname Slough is pronounced otherwise in England and the United States. I also been given a issue about the history of slew. The earlier tense of slay (Outdated Engl. slahan) was sloh (with a extended vowel), and this sort formulated like scoh “shoe,” although the verb vacillated involving the 6th and the 7th class. The actuality that slew and shoe have such dissimilar prepared sorts is due to the vagaries of English spelling. 1 can believe of too, who, you, group, fruit, cruise, rheum, truth, and true, which have the very same vowel as slew. In addition, look at Bruin and ruin, which glance deceptively like fruit, and incorporate maleoeuver for excellent measure. A gentle spelling reform seems like a great idea, does not it?

The pronunciation of February

In one of the letters I acquired, the author expresses her indignation that some people today insist on sounding the initial r in February. Everyone, she asserts, claims Febyooary. In such issues, everybody is a dangerous phrase (as we will also see from the future product). All of us are inclined to imagine that what we say is the only appropriate norm. Terms with the succession r…r are inclined to shed just one of them. However library is far more typically pronounced with the two, and Drury, brewery, and prurient have withstood the inclination. February has altered its form many moments. Hence, long in the past feverer (from Previous French) grew to become feverel (maybe less than the affect of averel “April”). In the older language of New England, January and February turned into Janry and Febry. Having said that potent the phonetic forces may perhaps have been in influencing the pronunciation of February, of wonderful relevance was also the point that the names of the months usually occur in enumeration. With out the first r, January and February rhyme. A equivalent predicament is well-recognised from the etymology of some numerals. Even though the pronunciation Febyooary is equally common on both equally sides of the Atlantic and is recognized as common through the English-speaking entire world, not “everybody” has approved it. The consonant b in February is because of to the Latinization of the French etymon (late Latin februarius).

Who as opposed to whom

Dialogue of these pronouns missing all curiosity prolonged ago, mainly because the confusion of who and whom and the defeat of whom in American English go back to aged times. Nonetheless I am not guaranteed that what I explained about the educated norm is “nonsense.” Who will marry our son? Whom will our son marry? Is it “nonsense” to distinguish them, and ought to (or only can) it be who in each situations? In spite of the rebuke, I consider that even in Modern American English the lady who we frequented won’t undergo if who is replaced with whom. But, in contrast to my opponent, I confess that tastes vary.

Wrap

An additional dilemma I obtained was about the origin of the verb wrap. This is a fairly extensive tale, and I resolved to dedicate a special write-up to it in the foreseeable potential.

PS. I notice that of the two issues asked by our correspondent past thirty day period only copacetic attracted some consideration (read through Stephen Goranson’s response). But what about hubba hubba?

Anatoly Liberman is the creator of Word Origins And How We Know Them as well as An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction. His column on phrase origins, The Oxford Etymologist, seems on the OUPblog just about every Wednesday. Deliver your etymology query to him care of blog@oup.com he’ll do his finest to stay away from responding with “origin unknown.” Subscribe to Anatoly Liberman’s weekly etymology articles via email or RSS.

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