Re: vocabulary

> --- Gary Shannon <fiziwig@...> wrote:
>> --- # 1 <salut_vous_autre@...> wrote:
>> <snip>
>> > But when I had to say what'd be the name related
>> to
>> > that root, I realise it
>> > would mean both "death" and "murder"
>> >
>> > Are there natlangs in which "murder" and "death"
>> are
>> > the same word?
>> >
>> > Prabably.. but if so, do these languages make
>> > difference between "kill" and
>> > "die" even if they don't between "murder" and
>> > "death"?
>>
>> What about "slaughter" as in killing an animal for
>> food, or "exterminate" as in killing a pestiferous
>> insect, or "execute" as in institutional killing of
>> a criminal?
>
> Or "sacrifice" as in killing as part of a religious
> ritual, or "suicide" as in killing one's self, or
> "Martyrdom" as in allowing one's self to be killed in
> service of a higher good.
These, I think, are the result of English's rich past. (Information from
various sources, including Merriam Webster Online, http://www.m-w.com)

"Kill" is from Old English 'cyllan', which is probably related to the word
'cwellan', "to quell." That, in turn, seems to come from Old High German
"quellen", "to torture." "Murder" comes ultimately from the same
Indo-European root that gave us Latin 'morts' and 'mortuus' and Greek
"brotos." At some point in the history of English, the German word  came
to have a fairly neutral connotation while the German word by way of Latin
came to have a connotation of violence. If "murder" entered English by way
of the Romans (which is likely, give that it is much closer to Latin
roots), one can see where a conquered people might find such a
connotation.

"Slaughter" comes from Old Norse 'slAtra', basically meaning to kill large
numbers without regard (as on a battlefield.) Given that, for most of
English history, only the wealthy regularly ate meat, and given that
enough had to be killed to feed a household that might include several
hundreds of soldiers, servants, guests, ambassadors and courtiers, the
connection between a battlefield term and dressing flesh to eat appears
strong.

"Exterminate" is purely Latin in origin, coming from 'ex terminus',
"beyond the boundary." If I remember correctly, it was originally used by
the Legions as a way of dealing with foreign invaders: those who were 'ex
termini' were to be 'exterminare.'

"Execute" comes from Latin via Middle French and basically means "to
fulfil an order." It from this sense that we have chief executives and the
executor of a will. Executing a person originally meant executing an order
to put the person to death.

"Sacrifice" is from Latin and means "to make sacred." Properly, a
sacrifice is anything that is given over to the gods for their use; while
it might mean killing something (or someone), it is a perfectly accurate
way to describe money given to a religious organization or time spent
working on a mission.

"Suicide" is from Latin and means "to kill ones self." It is similar to
words like 'fratricide' and 'regicide.'

"Martyrdom" is from Greek. 'Martyr' come from the word meaning "to
witness"; 'dom' is the suffix meaning "to be in a state of." It entered
English by way of religion. Because of the understanding of the word by
early Christians, "martyrdom" has long meant "the state of having been
killed for the sake of one's religious beliefs."

Gregory Gadow