Re: some origins...

lucasso wrote:
>=20
> what do you know about origins of simple word like time
> time is an abstract
> you can't touch time, you can't even see time (i've never seen time, ar=
e
> you?
> so why time words in every languages are so old and simple are there an=
y
> ideas??
> (time, Zeit, czas, toki, tiempo, tid, ido", uair, etc...)
Time comes from the PIE *di' (i' =3D i-macron), meaning "cut up, divide",
and thus originally denoted "a section of existence, a period of time".=20
*di' passed into Proto-Germanic as *ti', on which was added the suffix
*-mon, producing *ti'mon, hence English "time".  Latin "tempus" is
thought to have come from PIE *ten-, meaning "stretch", thus "a stretch
of time" (altho I personally think that is an odd theory, given that it
would require a parallel metaphor).  So, either way, it's a concrete
word being used abstractly.

> and what about articles, what can be origins of them?
I don't know if it's true in all languages, but it's often from definite
articles.  The English "the" comes from Old English _se_, the nominative
singular masculine for "that" (the "th" comes from the inflections - all
the other forms began with th-), the neuter singular nominative was
"thaet" (=FE=E6t).  In the romance languages, it comes from Latin "ille"
(also meaning "that"), which is also the origin of the third-person
pronouns, hence homophones like Spanish "e'l" (he) and "el" (the, masc.
sing.)

--=20
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sufficient reason for the invention of free will." - "Lord Leto II"
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