Author Topic: The random etymology of the day (Read 235458 times)

Noemon · « **Reply #200 on:** June 20, 2006, 12:48:53 PM »

What are some other English words that have Nahuatl roots, out of curiosity?

Jonathon · « **Reply #201 on:** June 20, 2006, 01:02:57 PM »

I think I could've named only a couple off the top of my head, but here's a more complete list.

Porter · « **Reply #202 on:** June 20, 2006, 01:39:23 PM »

Quote

Avocado and guacamole both trace back to the Nahuatl word ahuacatl

What is Nahuatl?

Jonathon · « **Reply #203 on:** June 20, 2006, 02:00:44 PM »

The language of the Aztec Empire.

Porter · « **Reply #204 on:** June 20, 2006, 02:01:15 PM »

Huh.

Jonathon · « **Reply #205 on:** June 20, 2006, 02:32:50 PM »

What do you mean by that?

Porter · « **Reply #206 on:** June 20, 2006, 02:34:58 PM »

I didn't mean anything, but I was surprised that I had never heard of that language.

Jonathon · « **Reply #207 on:** June 20, 2006, 02:50:13 PM »

I think it's more commonly simply called Aztec. The primary Mayan language, for instance, is actually called K'iche'.

From the Wikipedia article on Nahuatl language:

Quote

Nahuatl is often referred to as the Aztec language, or (especially in Spanish) as the Mexican language, because it was the language of the Mexica, i.e. the Aztecs.

Brinestone · « **Reply #208 on:** June 21, 2006, 09:04:06 AM »

I'd always thought Baker's chocolate was named that because it was of high enough quality to be used by professional bakers.

Jonathon · « **Reply #209 on:** June 21, 2006, 09:15:10 AM »

Baker's Chocolate was a company that made chocolate. I don't think that bitter chocolate used for baking has anything to do with that.

Porter · « **Reply #210 on:** June 21, 2006, 09:21:38 AM »

What I know as "baker's chocolate" is chocolate without sugar, to be used in baking.

Mr. Anderson · « **Reply #211 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:04:49 AM »

I found out what "ahuacatl" really means.

Jonathon · « **Reply #212 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:15:53 AM »

So did I.

pooka · « **Reply #213 on:** June 21, 2006, 12:37:26 PM »

I think unsweetened chocolate is sometimes called baking chocolate. Baker's is a company that makes chocolate, including baking chocolate but also semi-sweet chocolate blocks and also chips.

I always thought melting baking chocolate was such a pain. I prefer mixing cocoa 3:1 with vegetable oil to make a paste. I used to mix it with peanut butter and powdered sugar to make a fudge-type confection. Fortunately for you, I don't recall the exact proportions

rivka · « **Reply #214 on:** June 21, 2006, 05:31:03 PM »

A request:

My daughter noticed today that the Spanish verb comprender (As in, Yo no comprendo) sounds like comprehend. And certainly the meanings are similar. Is she correct in assuming that they have a common root?

Jonathon · « **Reply #215 on:** June 21, 2006, 05:48:21 PM »

Si. The English word was borrowed straight from Latin (comprehendere), whereas the Spanish word has changed a little.

Porter · « **Reply #216 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:36:55 PM »

Straight from Latin? How did that happen?

Jonathon · « **Reply #217 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:39:13 PM »

The same way the thousands of other straight-from-Latin borrowings happened: someone took a Latin word and anglicized it.

Porter · « **Reply #218 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:54:02 PM »

When and why?

Jonathon · « **Reply #219 on:** June 21, 2006, 07:58:45 PM »

The when would be 1340, and the why would be something like "because someone thought it would make a good addition to the English language" or perhaps "because all the other cool writers were doing it."

Mr. Anderson · « **Reply #220 on:** June 21, 2006, 09:31:33 PM »

Definitely because all the other cool writers were doing it.

Porter · « **Reply #221 on:** June 21, 2006, 10:00:50 PM »

I wonder if it was a French speaker that did it.

How long after the Norman invasion were people still regularly speaking French in England?

Jonathon · « **Reply #222 on:** June 22, 2006, 09:56:39 AM »

According to this article, Anglo-Norman (the French dialect spoken in England) was becoming less common by the thirteenth century. All the earliest quotes in the OED appear to be Englishmen writing in English (like Chaucer and Wyclif).

Also, as I understand it, the French speakers in England did not typically write in English. It also seems more likely that a French speaker writing in English would use a French word, not a Latin one.

Brinestone · « **Reply #223 on:** June 22, 2006, 10:55:35 AM »

Why is it that modern English has four variations on the "wake" theme (wake, awake, waken, awaken)? I can understand it if there were dialectal variations at one point, but they're not dialectal anymore (at least, they don't seem so to me), and we still have all four.

If different dialects do tend to favor one over the others, I'd like to know about it. Also, if there are shades of meaning that I'm missing, I'd like to know about that too.

Or are they just terribly redundant?

And while we're talking about these words, why is it that wake and awake are strong verbs, while waken and awaken are weak?

pooka · « **Reply #224 on:** June 22, 2006, 01:33:43 PM »

They aren't all completely interchangeable.
"Wake" is the imperative, or active with appropriate things. You can't say "I wake..." because you can't talk if your asleep, I guess. Does "wake" need "up" where "awake" doesn't?
"Awake" is used as an adjective. Is it a participle?
"Awaken" well, I know what this means but I would almost never use it unless I were writing a fantasy novel.
"Waken" is an alternative past participle with "woke". I think. I don't remember my english grammar very well.

What do you mean by "weak"?