Re: Newest natlang?

> > And Dutch is great for Germanic stuff, especially in math and
> > linguistics.  E.g. _raaklijn_ 'tangent'.  Ok, 'lijn' isn't
> > originally Germanic, and I do not know the cognate of 'raken' in
> > English (for 'to touch').  Maybe 'to reach' (but the sound shifts
> > are not obvious to me)?  Then _reachstroke_ could be a tangent.
>
> Michael Poxon <mike@...> wrote:
>
> As an antecedent of "raak" how about 'rake' in English? In the sense
> of both the garden implement (which essentially 'rakes' straight
> lines in the soil) and the expression 'to rake' one's fingernails
> across a hard surface (a blackboard is the classic example, when
> you get that awful scraping noise!!) All these have in common the
> production of a very thin, hard line.
The PIE root *reg- (move-, direct-, -in a straight line) gives
English (through *rog- in Germanic) the word "rake,"
(German "rechen") the garden implement not because of the lines it
makes in the soil, but because it consists of straight pieces of
wood.  So I don't see "raak" and "rake" as being related.

PIE *reig- gives "reach" and "rigid" (German "reichen").

I assume that "raken" means "touch."  A perfect word to use
for "tangent."  What is the word for "secant"?  Perhaps "through-
line"?  Cassell's German Dictionary gives only "Tangente," but does
give "Schnittlinie" for secant.

Interestingly, there is in English a homophone "rake" which
means "inclined, slanted, etc.," as in a raked stage.  Its origin is
unknown.

All of this from the AHD.

Charlie

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