Re: 'caron' (was: Re: Re: Two questions about Esperanto

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Philippe Caquant wrote:
> Couldn't find anything about its origin, but noticed
> that there exists also "macron" (a long horizontal
> stroke upon a vowel). So let's bet:
> - Greek origin ? I believe that if I was Greek, I
> would handle very nicely about carons and macrons in
> my everyday life.
> - English origin ? (some 'on' suffix) ?
I highly doubt there's a relation to any -on suffix in English, which
all seem to have to do with chemicals.  Anyway, 'macron' quite clearly
comes from Greek, whereas 'caron' appears to be coined in English. I
would believe, though, a modification of 'caret' (the upside-down vee in
proofreading) based on 'macron'.

> - Indo-European, same root as "crown" (krone, etc.) ?
>
> Anyway, what does 'hacek' mean ? OK, it means caron,
> but I mean, etymologically ?
Turning to dictionary.com, we discover that the AHD says:
[Czech háček [a-acute, c-caron], diminutive of hák [a-acute], hook, from
Middle High German hāken [a-macron], from Old High German hāko
[a-macron]. See keg- in Indo-European Roots.]

In turn, <http://www.bartleby.com/61/roots/IE210.html> (the AHD page on
Bartleby for the IE root *keg-) says it means 'hook, tooth' and lists
'hook' as a derivative.

So it appears it means "li'l hook".

--
Tristan.                 |       To be nobody-but-yourself in a world
kesuari at yahoo!.com.au |  which is doing its best to, night and day,
                          |                 to make you everybody else---
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