The random etymology of the day

[Tante Shvester]

See?  I was right!

[rivka]

From today's Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day:

  In 1924, a wealthy Massachusetts Prohibitionist named Delcevare King sponsored a contest in which he asked participants to coin an appropriate word to mean “a lawless drinker.” King sought a word that would cast violators of Prohibition laws in a light of shame. Two respondents came up independently with the winning word: “scofflaw,” formed by combining the verb “scoff” and the noun “law.” Henry Dale and Kate Butler, also of Massachusetts, split King’s $200 prize. Improbably, despite some early scoffing from language critics, “scofflaw” managed to pick up steam in English and expand to a meaning that went beyond its Prohibition roots, referring to one who violates any law, not just laws related to drinking.

That's kinda    

[Annie Subjunctive]

I hesitate to say this because it sounds kind of presumptuous if you don't believe in the authenticity of the Book of Mormon (We believe that the book was originally written in a derivative of Hebrew), but I've been wondering about the Hebrew causative ever since I read the Book of Mormon in Japanese.

There are causative phrases all over the Book of Mormon -

Or is it that ye have neglected us because ye are in the heart of our country and ye are surrounded by security, that ye do not cause food to be sent unto us, and also men to strengthen our armies? (Alma 60:19)

And it came to pass in the commencement of the thirty and first year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, Moroni immediately caused that provisions should be sent.... And he also caused that an army of six thousand men, with a sufficient quantity of food, should be sent... (Alma 62:12, 13)

And it came to pass after they had taken them, they caused them to enter into a covenant that they would no more take up their weapons of war against the Nephites (Alma 62:16)

Now Moroni caused that Laman and a small number of his men should go forth unto the guards (Alma 55:6)

For the multitude being so great that king Benjamin could not teach them all within the walls of the temple, therefore he caused a tower to be erected (Mosiah 2:7)

and when I read them in Japanese (which has a verb conjugation to create the causative), they seemed so seamless and natural, like they were meant to be written that way, whereas in English they had always sounded stilted.

Anyway. So I've been vaguely wondering about that in the back of my mind ever since.

[rivka]

I don't actually know, but I've long been under the impression that English's lack of causatives makes it an exception.

[Noemon]

What is the etymology of "bogeyman"?

[Jonathon]

Apparently it's not very clear, at least according to the OED. It could be connected to the Welsh bwg, meaning "ghost" or "goblin", or it could be related to the German bögge or boggel-mann. At any rate we've got bog/bug, bogle/boggle, boggard/boggart, and bogey/boogey/bogeyman/boogeyman, all of which carry the sense of some sort of scary specter.

[Annie Subjunctive]

So, what's the etymology of booger?

[Porter]

Your mom.

[Jonathon]

The OED says it's connected to bogey, but it doesn't say how. I don't really see the justification for including the meaning "a piece of dried nasal mucus" under a word that also means "the devil", "goblin", and "object of terror or dread".

[rivka]

Clearly, you've never seen what some kids can do with 'em.

[Porter]

I've heard them called "nose goblins" before.

[Tante Shvester]

How do you make a handkerchief dance?

Put a little boogie in it.

[pooka]

I don't actually know, but I've long been under the impression that English's lack of causatives makes it an exception.

Is it a lack of causatives or a lack of moods generally?  We use modals instead.

Say, are mood and modal related at all?  

[Jonathon]

Yes, mood and modal are related. Sometimes I've seen mode used instead of mood.

But English's lack of a morphological causative doesn't have anything to do with moods or modals, because the causative isn't a mood, though it is part of a historical trend away from verb inflection and towards periphrasis.

[Porter]

*reverses the polarity*

[Jonathon]

*increases the valency of the predicate*

[pooka]

Well, not all languages break neatly along the lines of what can or can't be a mood.  Arabic has a passive mood but also measures that contain features such as reflexiveness and causation.  I don't know if it's the same in Hebrew.  

For being sort of related, they are pretty different, different enough that Arabic is estimated to take twice as long to learn as Hebrew.  I wonder if it's because techniques of teaching are just different.  There is a pretty strong tradition in teaching Hebrew to english speakers, less so for Arabic.  

[rivka]

though it is part of a historical trend away from verb inflection and towards periphrasis.

Could you repeat that in words of a single syllable, please?

There is a pretty strong tradition in teaching Hebrew to english speakers, less so for Arabic.

No kidding. The word you're looking for is ulpan.

[Jonathon]

though it is part of a historical trend away from verb inflection and towards periphrasis.

Could you repeat that in words of a single syllable, please?

Um . . . no. But I could say it in words of two or more.

Maybe I should've said "conjugation" instead of "verbal inflection," but in English we often use "conjugation" to refer to both inflection and periphrasis. Inflection is the creation of forms by adding suffixes or prefixes or changing the vowel in the stem. Periphrasis is the use of multiple words to express something. Goes is an example of inflection, while will go is an example of periphrasis. So set is an inflected causative, while something like make sit is periphrastic.

[rivka]

So instead of using single-word modifications of verbs, we tend to add more words?

[Jonathon]

Yup. We have an inflection for the past tense, for the third-person present indicative, and for the first- and third-person singular subjunctive forms of be. Everything else relies on periphrasis or is simply unmarked.  

[pooka]

Now that I think about it, Arabic language education is mainly geared toward getting native Arabic speakers to produce Modern Standard Arabic (very similar to Quranic Arabic).  

I mean, sure you have various University programs in the U.S., but the whole system of Arabic instruction has as its expert steering hierarchy people who don't really believe mortals are capable of speaking Arabic properly.  

[Jonathon]

So instead of using single-word modifications of verbs, we tend to add more words?

By the way, I'm a little disappointed that you didn't notice that my first sentence above was entirely monosyllabic.

[Tante Shvester]

Monosyllabic is too long a word.

[rivka]

So instead of using single-word modifications of verbs, we tend to add more words?

By the way, I'm a little disappointed that you didn't notice that my first sentence above was entirely monosyllabic.

heehee!

Sorry. I was very tired yesterday.

Having slept through my morning (non-work) meeting (oops), I am slightly less tired now.