Re: most looked-up words

Ray wrote:
> On Tuesday, December 7, 2004, at 06:43 , Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> > > Also, ten points to anyone who can tell me what a 'kudo' is.
> >
> > _kudo_ [k_hudo/@u] is a backformation from _kudos_ [k_hudo/@uz](pl.),
>
> Ach!!
Don't blame me! I'm a classicist enough to use a classicizing
pronunciation.

> > which is itself a reanalysis of Greek _kudos_ [ku:dOs] 'glory',
>
> neuter singular. [ku:dOs] was Doric Greek, [ky:dOs] was Attic &
> Koine, and ['kiDOs] is Byzantine & modern.
That may be, but the British schoolboys probably learnt the word
from reading Homer.  If so, then there's the question of whether
the vowel had fronted yet in Attic/Ionic.  (Well, Homeric dialect
was a mix of many different dialects anyways.)

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Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637