Rabbits (was: Vocab #4)
| From: | John Cowan <jcowan@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, April 21, 2002, 0:49 |
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Padraic Brown scripsit:
> > 1. bunny / rabbit
>
> il levoerinis, /i lEvWR'in/ = hare
> il lepeors, /i 'lEpeWR/ = hare
> la connea, /la 'kone@/ = coney
> il conechoelis, /Il conExoWl/ = rabbit
I don't think that K would have separate terms for "rabbit" and "coney".
English only borrowed "rabbit" because "coney" (an earlier borrowing)
had become homonymous with an obscene word. Note that they are used quite
synonymously in _The Lord of the Rings_, specifically in the
chapter "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit": Sam says "raw coney chokes me".
Is the original native name of the animal (now lost) still known?
I can think of no other British mammal with a borrowed name.
Or was it brought in by the Normans along with its name?
--
John Cowan <jcowan@...> http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen, http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith. --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_
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