Re: Newest natlang?

> On Wed, 1 Oct 2008 18:03:18 -0000, caeruleancentaur
> <caeruleancentaur@...> wrote:
>
> >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.
> Alex Fink <000024@...> wrote:
>
> How do we know which of those two motivated the semantic
> extension?  Is there a cognate in some other lang applied to a
> different straight-handled tool?  Were rakes once characterised by
> being uniquely or specially straight, more so than a hoe or a broom
> or whatever else?  I can't bring myself to read the AHD's statement
> as strong enough to exclude other semantic developments, but only
> as one possible explanation of the fact that a noun derived
> from 'straight' might mean 'rake'.

The reference to "straight pieces" (note the plural) is not to the
long handle, but to short pegs of wood inserted into a board which is
then attached to the long handle.  I've seen antique rakes
constructed like this.  Those pegs would certainly be seen as quite
different from broom, hoe, shovel, etc.

Charlie