2183: Unrelated: improve vs. disprove Dec 6, 2020

Although broadly it could be said that 'improve' means to strengthen something while 'disprove' means to weak it, but the two words are not related, despite the apparent similar root. 'Improve' comes from the Latin 'prode' (advantageous) and is closer related to 'proud'—more on that tomorrow— and meant 'cause to profit', whereas 'disprove' is from the Old French 'prover' as in 'to test'. The spellings and pronunciation of 'improve' was however influenced by 'disprove' since before the 17th century it was uncommon to see it spelled with a -v-: rather it might be 'improu'. Indeed, its more general meaning did not come about until recently either, initially referring only to making something profitable as in "improving land" i.e. by clearing it for farming.

2182: Hebrew Cardinal Directions Dec 5, 2020

While the terms in English for cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—all may seem fairly arbitrary today, though some did have semantic significance in the distant past to the Sun. Modern Hebrew not only has generally meaningful cardinal directions but also some distinct Biblical counterparts. For instance, 'west' is מערב (mayrev) related to ערב (arev) meaning 'evening', when the Sun would be setting. Likewise, contrast ים (yam) seen in the Bible meaning 'sea' but also as a reference for 'west' and Israel's geography along the Mediterranean and it should make sense. Along those lines, צפון‎ (tzafon) for 'North' related to צָפוּן (tsafún) meaning 'hidden' as a reference to Israel's mountainous northern region, or נגב (negev) for 'South' also the name of a desert to the south. 'East' is מזרח (mizrach) related to זָרַח (zarach) meaning 'rise', a reference to the Sun.

2181: Names for Cardinal Directions Dec 4, 2020

At this point the cardinal directions in English—North, East, South, and West—are basically stripped of their original meanings, but unsurprisingly they are related to the Sun. Most directly so is with 'South' thought to come from the Proto-Germanic *sunthaz, understood to mean literally 'sun-side', which being so far north geographically would mean the Sun is usually seen towards the South. 'North' is uncertain, but it either comes from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₁ner- (inner, under) or the *ner- (left, or also 'below) and if the second is true, then it would likely be as a reference to being on the left as the Sun is rising. 'East' and 'West' both come through a different sort of pattern: Roman deities, kind of. While not necessarily directly from these sources, 'east' is related to the Latin 'aura' or Greek αὔρα (auos) meaning 'dawn', and a minor deity. Likewise 'west' is related to the Latin 'vesper', the evening star, and a minor deity.

2180: medina Dec 3, 2020

The city of Medina is known in Arabic as المدينة المنورة‎ (al-Madinat al-Munawwarah) meaning 'the enlightened city' making 'Medina' on its own just mean 'city'. Likewise the Aramaic מדינתא (medinta) and probably Hebrew מדינה (medina) also refer to territory, but have the broader meaning of 'state; region'. This itself comes from the root semitic root דין (din) meaning 'judgement', making it that all of these meanings refer to a place where judgement (kings; legal courts etc) would take place.

2179: cyprian plague Dec 2, 2020

It is very common to name diseases after the places associated therewith, like Lyme disease, West Nile virus, and Ebola. This is not the case with the Cyprian plague per se, a plague which affected the eastern and especially southeastern part of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century AD. One might it think started in or around the island of Cyprus, but actually the plague is named after St. Cyprian, the Bishop of Carthage; it is thought to have actually originated in Ethiopia. He documented the disease at the time, and so it is associated with his name. Be careful also, because ‘cyprian’ on its own means ‘prostitute’, and so the adjective now used is ‘cypriot’.

2178: What is Whispering? Dec 1, 2020

Whispering is something that everyone knows intuitively but might not be able to explain exactly.

Whispering is a process by which the vocal folds, sometimes called vocal chords, are not vibrating, though air still passes through. Therefore while all the processes of sound production above the larynx remains the same as in normal speech, rather than oscillating between voiceless and voiced sounds, the latter of which is determined by whether the vocal folds vibrate, whispering uses oscillation between voiceless sounds and whisper. That means that distinctions between voiced sounds like [b, d, g] and voiceless sounds, the counterparts here being [p, t, k] are minimal, and AI technology still struggles to understand this. In general, although whispering takes less energy overall, the vocal folds actually get more strained.

2177: 'Man' as an Interjection Nov 30, 2020

The path that led to the current uses of 'man' is a long and storied one. In addition to the varied uses it has as a noun, it is also an exclamation because that it used to be a pronoun. That might seem strange, but in Old English it meant what 'one' means now (pronominally) but it was also used generically for humanity, but by the Middle Ages it was used for familiar address, sort of like how 'bro' (or also still 'man') are used today. It is from this sense that it is believed that in the 15th century it started to be used as as interjection to express shock or just emphasis. Since then it has only become more popular.

2176: liverpool, liverpudlian, & scouse Nov 29, 2020

Someone from Liverpool is a Liverpudlian, and the variety of English he uses is Scouse. The fact that there are such a variety of terms where normally they would all be related is due to things that were once informal becoming official. 'Liverpudlian' began as a 19th century pun from 'puddle' referring to a small pool; 'Liverpool' itself comes from the Old English for 'muddy water'. The name for the dialect as 'Scouse' is from a word 'lobscouse', a stewed meat dish common among the sailing community there that was then applied to the people there, though this only happened in the mid-20th century.

2175: slavic Nov 28, 2020

The name for the Slavic languages comes from the native term for 'word', as seen still in Slovak 'slovo' or Russian 'слово', pronounced the same. The reason why this is, however, is somewhat contested. Some theories take it fairly literally relating the meaning of '*sluti' (speak clearly) for an articulate people; this explanation would not be uncommon considering other terms around the world. Another relates this to the root *slava meaning 'fame; glory', which again would not be so strange. Furthermore, consider that the proposed root for this would connect it to *ḱléwos (“fame”), the same as other word from Celtic to Greek to Persian meaning 'heard' or eventually 'word' also.

2174: Why Merchants Prefered Roman Numerals Nov 27, 2020

While Arabic numerals eventually won out (or one out, some might say), for most of European history Roman numerals were used. Part of the reason that a few centuries ago Roman numerals were prefered was that the most common need for writing them was not with mathematics per se but with commerce. Merchants prefered to use Roman numerals because they are not so easy to counterfeit because they fall into a particular order, whereas in Arabic numerals someone could just add more digits. Moreover there were actual anti-counterfeit measures built in, such as how the terminal I (representing 1) would be written as a J for instance: XXIIJ (23) so that no one could just add extra digits.

2173: הודו & חג ההודיה (Thanksgiving & Turkey): Unrelated Nov 26, 2020

While people might like to make the connection between Hebrew חג ההודיה (chag ha'hodiah) for the Thanksgiving holiday, and הודו (hodu), the imperative form of 'thank' that also means 'turkey', but it is not from this holiday that the bird is called this in Hebrew. Just compare the name for 'India' in Hebrew, הודו, and you'll notice it is literally the same word. This might become clearer considering the longer name of the bird is תרנגול הודו (“India fowl”), similar to how 'turkey' got its name from the country of Turkey, even though it is from the Americas. The name for the country in Hebrew comes from the Old Persian 'hiduuš', from Sanskrit, and is not related to anything along the lines of 'thank'.

2172: try and trial Nov 25, 2020

Although it is a bit more old fashioned, the structure of "try and" rather than "try to" was seen to be more proper. Indeed, when considering the etymology of this word, it makes more sense. Though clearly the definition has shifted slightly, it originally meant 'test' or 'examine'. Notably, this developed basically oppositely to 'prove', which is now taken to mean 'establish(ed) through testing', but originally meant what 'try' means now. It is through this more formal sense of 'examination' rather than merely 'attempt' that the word 'trial' came to be.

6 Year Anniversary—Pluralization Week: Starting Dec. 9, 2020

2 weeks until Word Facts turns 6 years old!

Starting Dec. 9, 2020 will be Pluralization Week: all 7 posts will focus on different aspects of pluralization and the notable grammar surrounding it considering languages from all around the world.

2171: Albania and Shqipëri Nov 24, 2020

The country of Albania is known by that name or a similar cognate in most other languages, but in the Albanian language it is called 'Shqipëri'. While the name 'Albania' comes from Latin in the 2nd century, Shqipëri is only attested from the 14th and was not popular until the 17th or 18th centuries, before which they called it 'Arbëri'. The newer has a somewhat contended origin. It is commonly thought to come from 'shqipe' (eagle), especially considering the national symbolism, as seen on the flag. That said, other explanations also place the meaning as coming from 'shqipoj' (to speak clearly), which is historically a pretty common way to name a people, as with 'Slovenia' meaning the same thing, but from a Slavic root. Another idea connects this name to the city of Skopje, the capital of Northern Macedonia, originally from Greek meaning 'observe', denoting the mountains of the area. Considering the various ethnic groups of the Balkans and the way territory and demographics have shifted around throughout history, any of these explanations could be said to have a solid basis.

2170: The Productivity of בן (Ben) Nov 23, 2020

The Hebrew בן (ben) or Aramaic בר (bar) both are used to mean 'son', but unlike in English it has other constructive uses, especially historically. For instance, it is still used to indicate age, with הוא בן שש (hu ben sheish) translating effectively as "he is 6 years old" but meaning literally "he is a son of six". Likewise, though it is no longer productive in Modern Hebrew, it was used to describe possession or ability, like ‏בן דעת‎ (ben da'at) literally "son of knowledge" to refer to someone who is logically competent.

2169: Squash and Cucumber Nov 22, 2020

The Latin name word for New World squash—genus: Cucurbita—different to Old World version, Lagenaria. The African variety is called so because its primary use was as a flask, like the calabash, and in Latin the word for 'bottle' is 'lagena'. The word 'cucurbita' instead comes from the the same root "cucumis, cucumer-" that gave English 'cucumber'. This root however also led to the Persian ḵarbuz (‘melon’), and the German Kürbis (squash) so it is pretty varied. It may also be related to the Sanskrit चिर्भट (cirbhaṭa) for “long melon" hence the Persian word, and definitely the Latin 'corbis' (basket).

2168: *Ghos-ti-: guest and host Nov 21, 2020

There is a theorized root *ghos-ti-which is the origin of 'stranger; guest', (but not 'ghost') and illustrates a pattern of relation between being a guest and being a host. Indeed, 'guest', 'host' and even 'xeno-' (as in 'xenophobia') all come from the same root. This Proto-Indo-European root, like with the relation between words mean 'give' and 'take', leads to words meaning both 'host' and 'guest' and it is estimated that the original root of the word would have referred to someone with whom one has reciprocal roles in hospitality. In the case of the Greek 'xeno-', this was extended beyond 'guest' to 'stranger' and then now 'foreigner'.

2167: corduroy Nov 20, 2020

It has been postulated that 'corduroy' comes from a compound of 'cord' as the name of a fabric and 'duroy' a another course wool but 'cord' is not found on its own in this way until after 'corduroy' so this is not so likely. Another idea associates 'corduroy' with the French "corde du roi" (cord of the king) but this is not true either because in French it is "velours à côtes". Another more reasonable connection has been made between this and 'paduasoy' (another corded fabric) as an influential source but there is no obvious true origin.

2166: Green Line, Purple Line, Blue Line Nov 19, 2020

The borders of Israel have been established with the so called Green Line (1948) and Purple Line (1967). Many people believe that the Green Line was named because of natural barriers from trees and other plants that separated Israel and Jordan and Lebanon etc. but actually it was just because it was made with a pen with green ink drawn onto the map. Likewise, the Purple Line defining the Syrian-Israeli armistice border and Blue Line defining Lebanese-Israeli border, all officially named as such, were done so in reference to the UN maps and UN itself respectively.

2165: yemen Nov 18, 2020

The country of Yemen occupies the southernmost point of the Arabian Peninsula, but its name comes from Arabic اَلْيَمَن‎ (al-yaman) meaning 'on the right' or 'right-hand'. For one looking at most maps now that would mean East, but since maps were oriented ('orient' itself meaning 'East', found on the top of map) with east on the top, it effectively just means 'South'. Similarly, the name in Hebrew, תימן (teimán) means 'south'.