linguoboy wrote:
Alisbet wrote:
That seems rather reasonable to me.
Should be, it's got solid scholarship behind it. Everything I say here about English etymology can be verified from the
Oxford English Dictionary and similar vetted sources (i.e. not kook sites on the web).
Indeed, the
Online Etymology Dictionary,
http://www.etymonline.com (visited July 27, 2010) traces it to W.Gmc.
*kiukinam, and thence to the root
*keuk-. That's where onomatopoeia appears to come in.
(All subsequent etymologies from
Online Etymology Dictionary.)
Ruth is probably a contraction of Heb.
reuth "companion, friend, fellow woman."
Falasha also has "column" wrong. It comes from OF
colombe, which in turn is from L.
columna ("pillar"), a collateral form of
columen ("top, summit"), derived from PIE
*kel- ("to project"). Nothing to do with doves except as a place to perch.
Finally, his/her argument that "chicken" is a diminutive misattributes several words as diminutives:
Burden: From OE
byrðen ("a load, weight, charge, duty"), from P.Gmc.
*burthinjo ("that which is borne"), from PIE
*bher- (1) ("carry, give birth.")
Even: From OE
efen ("level, equal"), from P.Gmc.
*ebnaz.
Heaven: As Falasha noted, from OE
heofon (which actually means "home of God"), possibly P.Gmc.
*khemina-, from PIE
*kem-/*kam- ("to cover").
Morn: Contraction, not diminutive, of ME
morwen, from OE (Mercian)
margen (dat. of
marne), earlier
morgen (dat.
morgne), from P.Gmc.
*marganaz,
*murganaz ("morning"), perhaps from PIE
*mergh- ("to blink, twinkle").
Oven: From OE
ofen ("furnace, oven"), from P.Gmc.
*ukhnaz , from PIE
*aukw- ("cooking pot").
Vixen: From OE *fyxen (feminine of fox), with Gmc feminine suffix
-en, -in.
Weapon: From OE
wæpen ("instrument of fighting and defense") from P.Gmc.
*wæpnan, from
*webno-m, of unknown origin.