A Few Words
Here are some more word histories:
Slit-This word is closely related to "slice," and likely also to "slat" and "slate." Written evidence seems to be lacking,@@@ but it is assumed that Old English had the verb "slittan," meaning "to slit," and the obviously related "slite" (long "i") was still in use in Scottish English*** until the early 20th Century. Old Saxon had "slitan," Old Norse (a North Germanic dialect) had "slita," Old High German had "slizan." These various forms all evolved from Old (Proto) Germanic "slitanan."
Bolt-Originally this was the word for a short arrow. Old Germanic had "bultas," and this was passed down to the various developing Germanic dialects, and in modern times, for example gave Danish "bolt," and German "Bolz." In Old English, it was the same as in modern English, "bolt." Over time, the notion of the short arrow came to be applied to metal objects for locks (and in German, for the "pins" that secure the hinges) and the short, thick screw like fasteners, as they resembled the short arrows of the word's original meaning. Further, the idea of the arrow traveling swiftly gave rise to the meaning of something being "quick as a bolt," and thus we have "bolt of lightening."
Star-A form of this word appears in all of the Germanic languages, and German has "Stern," Dutch "ster," Swedish "stjarna," Danish and Norwegian both have "stjerne." It was passed down to Old Germanic (which had "sterron/sternon") from Indo European "ster." Old English had "steorra," while Old Saxon had "sterro," Old Frisian "stera," Old High German "sterro," Old Norse "stjarna," and Gothic (another old Germanic language, now deceased) "stairno."
By the way, Greek, an Indo European language related to English further down the "family tree," also had two forms of the word passed down, "aster" and "astron." Of course, English borrowed "astonomy," a study of the stars, from Greek, as well as "asterisk". Further, Latin, another Indo European language, (I guess linguists would say Latin is a dead language, as it isn't spoken anymore, as such, but of course its offspring still flourish: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.) also kept a form of the word from Indo European, this being "stella," and this is the source of the English word "stellar." One more little tidbit, "sterling" used originally in England for a type of coin, got the name from the fact it had a "star" on the coin.
@@@You have to remember that many of the common people could not read or write way back when, but their every day language persisted, confounding, just as today, those with "higher education."
***Note that this is a Scottish form of English, and NOT a form of Celtic or Scots Gaelic.
Slit-This word is closely related to "slice," and likely also to "slat" and "slate." Written evidence seems to be lacking,@@@ but it is assumed that Old English had the verb "slittan," meaning "to slit," and the obviously related "slite" (long "i") was still in use in Scottish English*** until the early 20th Century. Old Saxon had "slitan," Old Norse (a North Germanic dialect) had "slita," Old High German had "slizan." These various forms all evolved from Old (Proto) Germanic "slitanan."
Bolt-Originally this was the word for a short arrow. Old Germanic had "bultas," and this was passed down to the various developing Germanic dialects, and in modern times, for example gave Danish "bolt," and German "Bolz." In Old English, it was the same as in modern English, "bolt." Over time, the notion of the short arrow came to be applied to metal objects for locks (and in German, for the "pins" that secure the hinges) and the short, thick screw like fasteners, as they resembled the short arrows of the word's original meaning. Further, the idea of the arrow traveling swiftly gave rise to the meaning of something being "quick as a bolt," and thus we have "bolt of lightening."
Star-A form of this word appears in all of the Germanic languages, and German has "Stern," Dutch "ster," Swedish "stjarna," Danish and Norwegian both have "stjerne." It was passed down to Old Germanic (which had "sterron/sternon") from Indo European "ster." Old English had "steorra," while Old Saxon had "sterro," Old Frisian "stera," Old High German "sterro," Old Norse "stjarna," and Gothic (another old Germanic language, now deceased) "stairno."
By the way, Greek, an Indo European language related to English further down the "family tree," also had two forms of the word passed down, "aster" and "astron." Of course, English borrowed "astonomy," a study of the stars, from Greek, as well as "asterisk". Further, Latin, another Indo European language, (I guess linguists would say Latin is a dead language, as it isn't spoken anymore, as such, but of course its offspring still flourish: Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, etc.) also kept a form of the word from Indo European, this being "stella," and this is the source of the English word "stellar." One more little tidbit, "sterling" used originally in England for a type of coin, got the name from the fact it had a "star" on the coin.
@@@You have to remember that many of the common people could not read or write way back when, but their every day language persisted, confounding, just as today, those with "higher education."
***Note that this is a Scottish form of English, and NOT a form of Celtic or Scots Gaelic.
posted by Randy at 1:27 PM
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