Irina Rempt-Drijfhout wrote:
>
> On Fri, 1 Oct 1999, Christophe Grandsire wrote:
>
> > John Cowan wrote:
>
> > > Christophe Grandsire scripsit:
>
> > > Perhaps "fleur" once had the sense of "flour" as well as "flower";
> > > after all, the English word is a borrowing.
>
> > Maybe in some cases. I think we also say "fleur de sel" for a kind of
> > salt, but I'm not sure. Maybe it was used for some kinds of powders,
> > hence the meaning "flour" when it was borrowed in English.
>
> It's "bloem" in both senses in Dutch as well.
>
Really? So it must be more than a simple borrowing. An Indo-European
feature maybe? Or a contact phenomenon between French and its neighbour
languages? It would be interesting to know from where the original use
came from.
--
Christophe Grandsire
Philips Research Laboratories -- Building WB 145
Prof. Holstlaan 4
5656 AA Eindhoven
The Netherlands
Phone: +31-40-27-45006
E-mail: grandsir@natlab.research.philips.com