Re: the /twi/ in /twilight/ ?

On Sat, 1 Jan 2005 15:22:29 -0000, caeruleancentaur <caeruleancentaur@...> wrote:
> --- In conlang@yahoogroups.com, Rodlox R <rodlox@H...> wrote:
>> Does the /twi-/ in /twilight/ have the same general origins (ie
>> linguistic or social or grammatical or something else) as /nigh/ ?
>> (as in "it was well nigh").
>
> No. This "twi-" is related to "two" and means "half," the half-light
> between day and night.  It is cognate to beTWEEn and beTWIxt.  Both
> dusk and dawn are twilights.
>
> "Nigh" is not related.  The "gh" is a remnant from the OE "neoh,"
> near.  This "gh" is retained in our English word "neighbor." one who
> dwells near.
And "nigh" itself is just the positive of a series of familiar adjectives:

       positive    |nigh|  (Old English néah)
       comparative |near|  (i.e., 'nigher', OE néara)
       superlative |next|  (i.e., 'nighest', OE níehsta)

...though nowadays "near" and "next" have lost their comparative and
superlative force, and nigher and nighest have been recreated.

	*Muke!
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