Re: Hadwan stress system renewed

dirk elzinga wrote:

> One of my very favorite examples in historical linguistics
> is the multiple borrowing into English of the French word
> 'gentil'. From it we get gentle, gentile, genteel, and jaunty
> (in that order).

I have my doubts about "gentile", which looks (m-w.com agrees)
to come direct from Latin.

A nice set is dish, dais, desk, disk/disc, and discus, all ultimately
from Latin DISCUS -- itself of Greek origin -- through different
pathways.  (Respectively: OE, ME from French, ME from Italian, and the
last two direct from Latin).

--
There is / one art             || John Cowan <jcowan@...>
no more / no less              || http://www.reutershealth.com
to do / all things             || http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
with art- / lessness           \\ -- Piet Hein

Reply