{"id":19549,"date":"2020-07-24T17:34:06","date_gmt":"2020-07-24T17:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=19549"},"modified":"2020-07-24T17:34:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-24T17:34:08","slug":"slurping-snorkels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.omniglot.com\/bloggle\/?p=19549","title":{"rendered":"Slurping Snorkels"},"content":{"rendered":"

I learnt today that an elephant’s trunk in Dutch is a slurf<\/strong> [sl\u028frf], not to be confused with a smurf<\/strong>. As I like the sound of it, I thought I’d write about it.<\/p>\n

Slurf<\/strong> also means proboscis, or jetbridge – the long, flexible tube thing through which you board a plane – also known as a vliegtuigslurf<\/strong> (“aeroplane trunk”). It has another slangy meaning, but I won’t go into that here [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

It comes from slurven<\/em>, a variant of slurpen<\/em> (to slurp) from the Middle Dutch slorpen\/slurpen<\/em> (to slurp), from the Old Dutch *slurpen<\/em>, from the Proto-Germanic *slarpan\u0105<\/em> (to sip, slurp), from the Proto-Indo-European *sreb\u02b0-\/*srob\u02b0-<\/em> (to sip, slurp, gulp). The English word slurp<\/strong> comes from the same root, via the Middle Dutch [source<\/a>], as does the word absorb<\/strong>, via the Latin absorbe\u014d<\/em> (swallow up) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Elephants are good swimmers and use their trunks as snorkels<\/strong>, a word that comes from the German Schnorchel<\/em>, which is related to schnarchen<\/em> (to snore). It refers both to snorkels used by swimmers to breath under water, and exhaust tubes on diesel submarines. The Dutch word for snorkel is snorkel, and was borrowed from English [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

The English words snort<\/strong> and snark<\/strong> come from the same root as the German schnarchen<\/em>: the Proto-Germanic *snark\u014dn\u0105<\/em> (to snore, snort), from the Proto-Indo-European *(s)nerg-<\/em> (to sound, murmur, growl) [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

However, snore<\/strong> comes from the Middle English snoren\/fnoren<\/em> (to snore loudly; snort), from snore\/*fnore<\/em> (snore; snort), from the Old English fnora<\/em> (snort; sneezing), from the Proto-Germanic *fnuz\u00f4<\/em>, from the Proto-Indo-European *pnew-<\/em> (to breathe; snort; sneeze) [source<\/a>]. Sneeze<\/strong> comes from the same root, as do pneumatic<\/strong>, pneumonia<\/strong> and related words [source<\/a>].<\/p>\n

\"Slurf\"<\/a>