[etni] "literature log" - literally....
- From: Israel Cohen <cohen.izzy@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 22 May 2012 10:16:38 +0300
Sara Gabai wrote:
>
i am looking for a picture of a "literature log" - something like a cartoon
> of a log of wood reading a book , or anything else that would make sense.
> couldn't find anything on Google Images. Does anyone out there in
> ETNI-land have anything like this?
> tia, Sara G
>
See the tiny URLs at the end. In the meantime, here's a word-picture.
*Homonyms*
Someone asked:
> "what does 'lumber' (planks of wood) have
> to do with 'lumber' (to move slowly, ponderously) ?"
Peter Grey [correctly] said:
> Firstly, a word that has two different meanings may well be
> two separate words that have ended up with the same form.
> ... for example "cleave" = split, and cling to.
It may be interesting, however, to examine some of the reasons why this
occurs.
*Reason 1:*
Genuine (cognitive) metaphor, a la George Lakoff. Using "lumber" as the
example:
"Trunk of tree" is to "lumber" as "Trunk of body" is to "lumbar". So,
thinking of one may cause you to think of the other. According to Lakoff,
the body-term probably came first.
*Reason 2:*
In some *other* language, two (or more) different meanings are based on
(near) homonyms. When speakers of that language become speakers of *your*
language, they take the translation of one of those homonyms in your
language and use that word for all the meanings it had in their native
language.
*Reason 3:*
A foreign word is simply borrowed into your language with its original
meaning, but its sound is similar to an existing word in your language.
This process may be closest to Peter's explanation (above). For example:
Face the music = consequences. Music = melody, tune, song already existed.
Music = consequences was probably borrowed into English from Yiddish
MaSKoNe mem-samekh-kuf-nun-aleph < Hebrew mem-samekh-kuf-nun-heh MaSKaNaH =
conclusion, inference, deduction MSKNH --> MuSiC. Why should this phrase
enter American English at about 1850? Probably the result of German-Jewish
immigration to the States... which preceded Eastern European Jewish
immigration to the USA by about 50 years.
*Reason 4:*
Simple parallel derivation from homonyms in a precursor language. Example:
Latin anima/animus --> English animated/animosity.
If you haven't become completely bored by now, let's lumber back to the
original question.
Hebrew shin-aiyin-mem-mem = boring, dull, ponderous;
Now, compare bored and board (of wood).
Next, compare board (of wood) and board (of directors).
In Hebrew, board (of directors) is Mo3eTZeT.
It contains aiyin-tzadi 3eTZ = wood.
American Indians use a "talking stick" at council meetings. See
http://www.acaciart.com/stories/archive6.html
The Hebrew word for committee is Va3aD. This sounds quite like the the
English word WooD pronounced by a native speaker of German. Would you
derive Vatican from Va3aD KoHaNim = committee of priests? :-)
BTW, the Vatican is named after the hill on which it was built ... but that
hill was used for ceremonies by pagan priestesses and oracles before
Christianity existed.
http://sci.tech-archive.net/pdf/Archive/sci.lang/2006-08/msg00141.pdf
Yusuf B Gursey wrote:
> x ~ z alterations are found in iranian languages.
Xylophone has an initial z-sound in English. The Hebrew pronunciation
is Q'SiLoFoN which is closer to the original Greek.
Compare Greek xylon = wood with Hebrew aiyin-tzadi 3eTZ = tree,
giving the 3=aiyin a velar K-sound.
If you are asleep by now, you might be ZZZzzz... sawing wood.
This is a cartoon of Leif Ericson reading LEIF
*http://tinyurl.com/7ftnod7*
*
*
One cent coin with image of (President) Lincoln sitting on a log reading a
book
*http://tinyurl.com/864nluq*
More Images of people sitting on logs reading:
*http://tinyurl.com/cwz9f2u*
*
*
*http://tinyurl.com/7qp6lv2*
*http://tinyurl.com/d335eoo*
*
*
*http://tinyurl.com/d4hqdtg*
*http://tinyurl.com/cfovzms*
*
*
*http://tinyurl.com/6tpp4uv*
*
*
Ciao (said when leaving, from tzadi-aleph = to exit, to go out ?)
Israel "izzy" Cohen
cohen.izzy@xxxxxxxxx
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