Re: Butterflies
| From: | taliesin the storyteller <taliesin-conlang@...> |
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| Date: | Thursday, November 3, 2005, 15:12 |
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* Raivo Seppo said on 2005-11-03 15:21:04 +0100
> A newcomer in the list proposes to extend the theme: what are the
> roots/words semantically connected to the term ?butterfly`or is the term an
> independent one? It?s quite obvious in English (butter-fly, OE butorfleoge)
> or, perhaps, in Estonian - ?liblikas? is derived from ?lible`(a
> grass-blade). As I remember, Greek ?psyche?also referred to the insect,
> being appositely animistic in that connection.
Writing mail in a hurry isn't always wise...
Hi Raivo and welcome to the list! I take it you are or know Finnish?
What I *meant* to say in the last mail was that butterfly is a weird
special case and that it is more fruitful to look at the sounds of it
and its ilk in other languages. Why does three syllables dominate for
instance, how many languages uses reduplication in this case etc.
*counting* fifth mail today, I guess no more replies until tomorrow...
t.
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