Know 'Root Words'! That's Etymology !

  

                   It is not Alex Haley’s famous book on ancestral roots.Nor is it about the nutritional value of tubers.'Etymology' is something more interesting and more useful than all these; it’s the fascinating study of' roots of words'. Words are vehicles of expression, the womb of poesy and window for higher thought.Mastery of words makes you a master of communication,An easy way to build the vocabulary is to learn the root words and master the technique of their combination possibilities, with other roots and their formation patterns.Knowing just 2 root words can sometimes put you in command of as many as 50 words!                       Greek and Latin have contributed a maximum root words to English than any other foreign language.Most of the scientific,technical and medical terminology is derived from Greek and Latin roots.Many common words we use everyday have interesting background behind their origin.

            I propose to present a few interesting root words  and take you into a voyage into the enchanting world of etymology.

Here are a few for now.

*What would you call a beginner as ? Well,a beginner begins any subject with the a,b,c.. of it .So he is an ‘abecedarian’ derived form the first letters of the alphabets!

*The word ‘alphabet’ is derived form the first two letters of Greek alphabet i.e.,’alpha’ and ‘beta’.

*It may well be an accident, if one knows the meaning of ‘accidence’ which means the rudiments or essentials of a subject.
*’Terminus’ is such a familiar word but it actually is derived form the Latin word denoting ‘the end’.
*’Incubus’ is the demon fabled to make sleeping females pregnant.The word ‘incubator’ is derived form it
*The longest word in the Random House Dictionary is ‘Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’ –a name of respiratory disease .

The broken roots will be
1)Pneumato-means ‘air,breath,spirit’.Perhaps the first word that will strike anyone is ‘pneumatic tyre’ .

But behold ,’pneumatology’ is the study of spiritual beings and ghosts!
The ‘pneumono’ in this longest word means ‘lung’ in Greek.

Ultra in Latin means ‘beyond’ .The extremist point of view is’ultraism’.’ultraconservative’ is extremely conservative .

‘ultra vires’ which is commonly used means ‘beyond the legal competence, authority ‘.
'Microscopic 'needs no explanation.
'Silico' is 'sand'

*’moped’ the common power driven two wheeler is actually a abbreviated form of ‘motor’ assisted’ ped’al cycle!
*’philo’ is another learned borrowing from Greek which means ‘love’.’philosopher’ is one who loves wisdom('sophi' in Greek is 'wisdom').

Now try guessing what' phylogyny 'means (‘gyno' is woman ‘) .
Not all words break to indicate correct meaning.example

,'philander' breaks into’ philo’ and’andros’ .’andros’ means’ man’.Thus ‘philander' should mean ‘one who loves man’but it actually means a loving man,’a loafer after girls’ .But this is an exception.
*While ‘andros’ means ‘man’, ‘gyno’ is ‘woman’.A woman-hater is ‘misogynist’.
        These are a few words for now.Every word has an interesting 'root'.If you want to improve your vocabulary,learn a root word every day.For regular articles on Etymology,you may visit my blog http://greekandtamil.blogspot.in/

(Originally published in blog https://wordpress.com/post/84260904/15/

What is the etymology of the word 'etymology'?

 

The English word ‘etymology’ does not have an acceptable root word as provided in the presently available sources.

Online Etymology Dictionary says:

etymology (n.)

late 14c., ethimolegia "facts of the origin and development of a word," from Old French etimologie, ethimologie (14c., Modern French étymologie), from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia "analysis of a word to find its true origin," properly "study of the true sense (of a word)," with -logia "study of, a speaking of" (see -logy) + etymon "true sense," neuter of etymos "true, real, actual," related to eteos "true," which perhaps is cognate with Sanskrit satyah, Gothic sunjis, Old English soð "true."

There is no acceptable basis for the suggested etymology ‘from Latin etymologia, from Greek etymologia "analysis of a word to find its true origin," Greek does not have any word relating to ‘etymo’ that has the meaning’analysis of word’.This appears more to be a ‘guess work’than a research.

Real Etymology of ‘Etymology’

The real etymology of many English words can be traced,surprisingly, to Tamil,the oldest surviving language still spoken.

• Athi’s answer to What is the etymology of "navy"?
• Athi’s collaapsed answer to What is the etymology of the word 'Jesus'?
• Athi’s answer to What is the etymology of the word 'Jesus'?
• Many more,if you search

The word ‘etymology’ is derived from’Athimoolam’ which means’First Source’ The ownership of this word by Tamil is strongly supported by the presence of root words ie.Athi=First,Prime and ‘Moolam’=Source.Related words available in Tamil are ‘Athibagavan=God,Athinathan=First Head,Moolai=Corner,Moolasthanam=Corner Altar etc.

The strong sound correspondence and similarity between the 2 words are patent enough to prove the claim.

Ati>Eati>ety + Moolam>Molagia>Mology

Aatimoolam>etymolom>etymology !

(Originally published on Feb 16,2018 in Quora)

Real Etymology of English word ' fuck'

The etymology of the English word 'fuck' has been a matter of discussion by the etymologists for long.The extant findings in the matter is as under:

Wikipedia:The Oxford English Dictionary states that the ultimate etymology is uncertain, but that the word is "probably cognate" with a number of native Germanic words with meanings involving striking, rubbing, and having sex or is derivative of the Old French word that meant "to fuck".[7]

Etymonline:"to have sexual intercourse with" (transitive), until recently a difficult word to trace in usage, in part because it was omitted as taboo by the editors of the original OED when the "F" entries were compiled (1893-97). Johnson also had excluded the word, and fuck wasn't in a single English language dictionary from 1795 to 1965."

Huffington Post says’ It first appears, though, only in the 16th century, in a manuscript of the Latin orator Cicero.’ 
Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com /melissa-mohr/a-fcking-short-history-of_b_3352948.html 

World Wide  Words says’It is often classed as one of the archetypal Anglo-Saxon four-letter words, but it isn’t Anglo-Saxon — it’s not recorded until the fifteenth century. The first known appearance is in a Latin poem dated sometime before 1500 that satirises the Carmelite friars of Cambridge. It includes the line Non sunt in coeli, quia gxddbov xxkxzt pg ifmk. The code can easily be broken to read Non sunt in coeli, quia fvccant vvivys of heli. Being translated, this says “They are not in heaven because they fuck wives of Ely”. Fuccant (in modern spelling) looks like Latin, but it’s a humorous fake — fuck is actually Germanic, related to Middle Dutch fokken, Norwegian fukka and Swedish focka.”

Link: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-fuc1.htm

Comments:

An analysis of the fore-going findings leaves one with only one thing clear .It is the 'clear'uncertainty on the roots of this word.Moreover,it is highly improbable that no  word for such an act was used till late 16^th century while the act of ‘fucking’ should be as old as mankind !The attributed source language Germanic is quite a young language (Circa 350 AD)and could not,probably have been the original source of the word for ‘fuck’ which ‘act’ should have been 1000s of years old.

So,what then is the real etymology of the word’fuck’?

Often we look for gold in far off places  like Bolivia but end up finding it in  our neighbouring field of Jones!Who knows ,you may find gold  there,if only you dig there!Our problem is ‘we cut our perimeter  and refuse to step out of it’even if there are reasons to step out.

I stepped out!And found some gold!

Yes !I found  the roots !

After intense research,I  hit on a particular language.Lets call it as X language ,for covenience sake.This X language has one word’okka’ which means’to sexually unite’ .This root is derived from'Okkam' meaning'enlarged/erect (penis)'The word 'okka' is,probably formed by the sound of ‘intensive intercourse’ which is’okku,okku,okku….’as an onomatopoeic sort of formation.Dogs make this kind of sound while performing intercourse.Even now ,people speaking this X language call women for ‘okka’(intercourse) as a vulgar usage.They use it in curse language also,like ‘ammavai okka’ meaning’fuck your mother’.’’Thayoli’ means’mother fucker’ in X language. The Sanskrit word ‘Yoga’ is derived from this word ‘Okham’ஓக்க(verb) ,ஓகம் (noun) which means ‘to unite’ or ‘to fuse together’ as in a sexual intercourse.

The English word ’fuck’ is a modified derivative of this word'Okka'. Okka>Oga>‘Yoga’ is nothing but‘union with Siva’ in the ultimate,after invoking ‘Kundalini’ .Hence the word. The word has corrupted into ‘Bogam’போகம் also which is used to refer to ‘enjoyment’ or ‘harvest’result of the union.'Rajabogam'is 'royal enjoyment'

3 Bogam of paddy ,means 3 harvests in X language.’Vaibhogam’(celebration) is another connected word.

In X language ,a 'fortunate person' is called’Yogakkaran’(Lucky fucker)It also appears that the English word'yoke' is a corrupt modification of this word.

Which is that X Language?

This X language is much older than Germanic and Greek.Many words from X language are found in Greek language,as well.

And the X language is ……none other than Tamil,the oldest surviving spoken language of the world. 
The etymology of the word ‘fuck’ is no more uncertain,with so much of collateral support !Tamil is known to be related to greek already,with many common words.

For more ,on Greek-Tamil links,please read Athi S Sundar's answer to Greek Tamil genetic links .