Re: electronyms (was: Greek plurals)
From: | Andreas Johansson <andjo@...> |
Date: | Thursday, September 13, 2007, 15:10 |
Quoting R A Brown <ray@...>:
> Isn't the modern Hebrew for 'electricity' derived from a Biblical Hebrew
> word for _amber_?
I don't know, but the Icelandic is from their word for amber. BP will correct me
on the exact form, but it's something like _ragnkraft_. Both are still "based"
on the Greek in a sense, in so much they're calques of it.
> And the Chinese is certainly non-Greek-based, namely
> dian4 (which IIRC is also the word for 'lightning').
That, I suppose, would date the coinage to after Franklin's famous experiment.
Andreas
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