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| Shit !Is it English or French ? |
Often 2 languages claim the ownership of the same word. In such cases,how do we confirm the ownership?
Chapter 9 of the recently released book ’Proto-Indo-European Language-Face Unveiled’ (Notion Press-2017) provides the rules:
Hans Rules For Etymology Confirmation
Often we come across a number of etymologies which prima facie appear questionable or unacceptable.They either appear baseless ,false or kind of imaginary guess work .Often,one feels that they are not quite convincing. Sometimes,we do come across competing claims as well. In such situations,how does one find out the right original root and its owner? Following are the rules formed, for confirmation of word origin and ownership
Rule 1: Eco-system for word origination a must.
Let us,first of all,understand how words originate in any language.What are the basic conditions precedent for a ‘word’ to originate in a ‘language’?
Any word in any language is a product of the eco-system of people,environment and need.
For example,if Tamil has 60 words for ‘Elephant,’it means:
l There were people called ‘Tamils’.
l They lived in a specific place.
l The place they lived had elephants.
l Tamils knew ‘elephants’ ,interacted with them and so gave different names to them.
Apply this to a people of say Denmark,where elephants did not live So,the Dutch language could not have ‘originated ‘a word for ’elephant’when,say,the Dutch never knew about ‘elephants’.
Tamil does not have a word for ‘dragon’as they never knew of ‘dragon’ either alive or in fantasy.So,if any language claims ownership of a particular word as its own, without a conducive supporting eco-system for the word to originate,then the claim needs to be doubted and questioned.
For example,Sanskrit claims every word as its own without the supporting eco-system for origination of words.For example,’rice’ is ’vrlhi’ in Sanskrit.
Now,the questions that arise are:
l When there are no ‘Sanskrit’ people,who cultivated ‘rice’?
l Which is the territory of ‘Sanskrit’ habitation?
l How can a word for ‘rice’ originate in a culture where ‘rice’ was not cultivated?
l Where was ‘rice’ cultivated,if cultivated, by people who coined this word?
When the the answer to the above questions are negative,how can a word for ‘rice’ originate in Sanskrit?
So,its clear that the etymology claimed in a particular language X gains more reliability, if supported by presence of an eco-system for word origination.
Rule 2:Presence of’ Root words’ and ‘cousin words’ in the language.
The presence of clear and acceptable ‘root word/formation’, in the language ,which claims ownership of the word ,proves its ownership.
Eg.Let us take the 2 words ‘Nation’(English) and’Nadu’ (Tamil) .Let us check out the original root.
The etymology of English Word ‘ nation ‘ claimed in Online Etymology Dictionary is as follows :
“c 1300, from Old French nacion "birth, rank; descendants, relatives; country, homeland" (12c.) and directly from Latin nationem (nominative natio) "birth, origin; breed, stock, kind, species; race of people, tribe," literally "that which has been born," from natus, past participle of nasci "be born" (Old Latin gnasci; see genus). Political sense has gradually predominated, but earliest English examples inclined toward the racial meaning "large group of people with common ancestry." Older sense preserved in application to North American Indian peoples (1640s). Nation-building first attested 1907 (implied in nation-builder).”
The etymon claimed dates around c .1300 only. French language itself evolved into the old French from Latin by around 9th century only. So, the question that arises is ‘Were there no ‘nations’ earlier ?The etymon French“ nacion‘ claimed is a stand–alone word with no other word to support the claim.Latin word’natio’ appears to be the older root from which ‘nacion’ should have descended.Still there are no other supporting words related to ‘natio’ in Latin.
Now let us consider a competing claim for this word ‘ nation’,which is from Tamil word ‘naadu ‘This word ‘naadu’means ‘country or people’ as against ‘ veedu meaning ‘ home.Plenty of supporting ‘cousin words ‘are available for the claim. ‘ Nattukaran is a ‘ citizen’. ‘Naatu Nai is a ‘country dog’. This word ‘Nadu’ appears to be derived from verb ‘nadu’ which means ‘ to plant’. ‘Naattu’ means to’ firmly plant’. Hence’ that(territory/people) which is ‘planted(established) firmly’ becomes ‘ naadu’( nation ).’Nada’ means’to walk’(v) .’Naadu’ =’that which is walked on’
Now,the origin of the root ‘natio’(Latin) is proved beyond doubt,to be from Tamil word ’Nadu’ by the:
1)Presence of clear basis for the root ‘Nadu’in Tamil
2)Stand-alone word in Latin with no cousin-words.
3)Presence of related’cousin words’ in Tamil .
Rule 3:Age of the word/root
The older the word is,better are its claim for the ownership,as explained in the fore-going example of ‘Nadu’ and’’Nation’
Rule4:Non-morpheme cognate words.
With respect to cognate words,if cognate words in two languages X and Y are morphemes, the conclusion of cognation stands beyond question. But in case the word could be broken down further in X language, the probability of that word belonging to X language is quite high.For example the word ‘Puj’ and ‘Pusai’ are considered cognate words in Sanskrit and Tamil.While in Sanskrit the word is a morpheme (vide page 641 of Sanskrit-English ,Dictionary-Monier Williams) in Tamil, the word ‘Pusai’ breaks down into “Poo+sei’.’Poo’ is ‘flower’ and ‘Sei’ is ‘to do’.The ritual ceremony done with flowers is thus called ‘http://Pusai’.In constrast ‘Puj’ in Sanskrit means ‘to honour;toworship’only.Hence it appears that an inference of cognation in such case stands to question. .Hence the etymology of Sanskrit word 'Puja' is from Tamil word 'Pusai' only.
The supporting ‘cousin words’ in Tamil are:
1)'Poosari'(Priest),
2)Pookary(flower seller),
3)Poopu(Puberty),
4)Poo malai (flower garland),
5)Poo chorithal(flower shower) etc.
It may be observed that Sanskrit does not have these supporting cousin words.
Rule5:Cultural Relevance.
We should understand that any language is, always an integral part of the culture ,of the people who speak it,as their native language. As such, the etymon or root claimed should relate to the culture of the people.For example,a’ maritime people’ would have lot of maritime related words in their language naturally.
Let us take the etymology of English word ‘ Catamaran ‘ for our illustration.
The etymology provided is as under:
“Kattumaram’ -Tamil(tied logs) > English ‘Catamaran’
early 17th century: from Tamil ‘kaṭṭumaram’, literally ‘tied wood’.”
This etymology can be safely considered as true because it is amply supported by the presence of ‘Kattumaram’ in Tamil Nadu.Suppose some one claims that it is from Japanese ‘Katsu’ which means ‘fried pork ‘ and the claim that people eat ‘katsu’ in a boat shaped like ‘catamaran’,hence the etymology! Obviously,the claim is not tenable! And you know which claim is likely to be right !
If the above 5 rules called ‘Hans Rules For Etymology Confirmation’ are complied with,one can be certain of the claim ,especially in a competition.
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