Activity for PSTH
| Type | On... | Excerpt | Status | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Question | — |
What semantic notions underlie fūrunculus (Latin for 'petty thief') 🡺 furuncle? Wiktionary doesn't expound how furuncle ("1 cm tender red papule or fluctuant nodule") is a "transferred sense" from "pilferer (petty thief)". How do these notions in these nouns relate to each other at all? E.g. why would furuncles markedly develop on thieves? Etymonline > "a boil, circumscribe... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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How did rǣda work syntactically, after shifting from 'advise' to mean 'interpret and understand the meaning of written symbols'? Old English rǣda semantically shifted from ‘advise, consult, guess’ to mean ‘interpret, interpret letters, read’. But isn't this semantic shift unsyntactical and infelicitous? >Advisor's writing rǣda (in the sense of 'advise') Advisee. is felicitous. >Advisor's writing rǣda (in the se... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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What semantic notions underlie 'anger, agitation' (PIE *ǵʰéysd-) 🡺 'ghost'? >On October 31 2016, Kevin Stroud wrote > >The connection between “ghost” and “guest/host” is mentioned on page 303 of ‘The Horse, The Wheel and Language” by David W. Anthony quoted on [English Stack Exchange]. As I noted in the early episodes of the podcast, that book was one of my primary sources... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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What semantic notions underlie 'to advise, counsel, guess' (rǣda) 🡺 'peruse' (read)? How did ‘advise, consult, guess’ semantically shift 🢂 to signify ‘interpret, interpret letters, read’? How do they semantically appertain? >### read [OE] >In most western European languages, the word for ‘read’ goes back ultimately to a source which meant literally ‘gather, pick up’: French lir... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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What does Etymonline mean by 'to raise (someone) out of trouble'? I have never heard of "to raise (someone) out of trouble"! What does this mean? >### relieve (v.) [[on Etymonline]](https://www.etymonline.com/word/relieve#etymonlinev10379 "Origin and meaning of relieve") > >late 14c., releven, "alleviate (pain, etc.) wholly or partly, mitigate; afford comfort;... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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What semantic notions underlie 'con-' + 'sign' 🡺 with "deliver or transmit (goods) for sale or custody"? 1. How did con- + sign semantically shift 🡲 to this modern sense in Commerce? 2. Why did con- + sign shift so radically, but NOT 'sign'? In Modern English, "sign" alone doesn't possess this Commerce sense. >10. Commerce. To deliver or transmit (goods) for sale or custody: usually implying thei... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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How did 'rendre' semantically shift from meaning 'give back' to 🡺 1. 'make, cause to be' 🡲 2. 'represent, depict'? What semantic notions underlie "`give back`" with 1. 🢂 "make[,] or cause to be in a certain state"? 2. 🡪 "represent, depict"? >### render (v.) [[on Etymonline]](https://www.etymonline.com/word/render?ref=etymonlinecrossreference#etymonlinev10422) > >late 14c., rendren, rendre, "repeat, s... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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If assūmptiō = 'take up', then can ad- (prefix) = 'up'? But why, when super- = 'up'? 1. Are these definitions correct? Even though p. 262 below (bottom scan) doesn't list "take up" as a meaning of assūmptiō? >(13th, from Latin assūmptiō, the act of taking up, from Latin assūmere, which is ... to assume). >A little on etymology: the word “assumption” comes from the Latin “as... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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What semantic notions underlie "inmost, innermost" (intimus) 🡲 with "make known, announce" (intimo)? How did intimus "inmost, innermost, deepest" (adj.) semantically shift to 🡺 intimare "make known, announce, impress" ? These meanings are polar opposites! If something is inmost, then it's private — and you wouldn't "make known" or "announce" a secret! >## intimate (adj.) on Etymonline > >... (more) |
— | over 1 year ago |
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Isn't lībra pondō circumlocutory? Because both lībra and pondō meant "weight"? Isn't lībra pondō redundant#Rhetoric)? It feels pleonastic and tautological) — because both lībra and pondō meant "weight" — see below. Wikipedia translates lībra pondō as "("the weight measured in libra"), in which the word pondo is the ablative singular of the Latin noun pondus ("weight")"... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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How did commeātus semantically shift from meaning "passage" 🢂 to "leave of absence"? What semantic notions underlie meaning 1 ("The act of coming and going") 🡺 with 5 ("Leave of absence)? Please fill in the gaps, and show the steps, between meanings 1-4 and 5? The Oxford Latin Dictionary didn't expatiate on the semantic shift from 4 to 5, and skilled steps! I scanned Oxford Lati... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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How did in- + partire compound to mean "communicate as knowledge of information" (impart)? What semantic notions underlie in- + partire 🡺 with "communicate as knowledge or information"? This semantic shift flummoxes me, because in- + partire "`was not originally restricted to immaterial things but now usually is only in reference to qualities`". Undeniably, communication can't be physic... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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What semantic notions underlie “to exchange” (PIE *meyth₂-) 🢂 “to give, bestow” 🡺 “to let go, send” (Proto-Italic *meitō)? Wiktionary asservates >May be for mītō (with lengthening of the consonant; compare mitāt), from Proto-Italic meitō, from Proto-Indo-European meyth₂- (“to exchange”), an extension of the root mey-. [1.] From the original meaning “to exchange” [2.] a semantic shift occurred to “... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
| Question | — |
How did "dispose" semantically shift from meaning "put apart" 🡺 to "transfer title to property"? What semantic notions underlie "put apart" 🡺 "a transfer of title to property"? This semantic shift addles me. Why? Because "put apart" feels casual and laid-back! In modern English, "put apart" refers to personal tangible goods. But "a transfer of title to property" is legalistic! No native ... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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Demise — How did "dismiss, put away" semantically shift to mean 🡲 a transfer of property, or the grant of a lease? What semantic notions underlie "dismiss, put away" (desmetre) 🢂 with transferring property or granting a lease (demise)? This semantic shift befuddles me, because — 1. Humans "dismiss, put away" merely physical objects that they dislike. "dismiss, put away" has a negative connotation. 2. "d... (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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How did mittō (to send) semantically shift 🢂 in Vulgar Latin 🡺 to mean "put"? Wiktionary allegates that, for the Latin mittō (“to send”), >The semantic shift from "send" to "put" probably occurred in Vulgar Latin. What semantic notions underlie "send" and "put"? I can't brainstorm any relationship between the two, even after reading this word map or narrative. (more) |
— | almost 2 years ago |
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Why did linguists impute Proto-Italic *moini-, *moinos- "duty, obligation, task" 🡺 to PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move"? What semantic notions underlie Proto-Italic moini-, moinos- "duty, obligation, task," 🢂 with PIE root mei- (1) "to change, go, move"? How do they semantically appertain each other? I quote from merely one para. on "municipal (adj.)" on Etymonline. >The first element is from munus (plural muni... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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How did prae + scribere semantically shift from meaning "write before" ⟶ "a title or right acquired through long use or uninterrupted possession"? I grok that prae- + scribere ⟶ praescribere literally meant write before. But what semantic notions underlie write before with `a title or right acquired through long use or uninterrupted possession`? These notions contradict each other — because if you possessed writing before acquiring a title o... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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How does 'contango' semantically appertain to (1) 'continue'? (2) Or 'contain' as in Spanish 'contengo'? I know that in Spanish, contengo is the first person singular conjugation of contener "to contain". I surmise that English transcribed the Spanish /e/ into an "a". Etymonline > 1853, "charge made or percentage received by a broker or seller for deferring settlement of a stock sale," a stockbrok... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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How did 'in' + 'as' + 'much' (⟶ inasmuch) compound to mean "in an equal or like degree"? I quote the OED 's etymology for the adverb inasmuch. >originally 3 words in as much (in northern Middle English in als mikel), subsequently sometimes written as 2 words, in asmuch, and now (especially since 17th cent.) as one. > >I. In phrase inasmuch AS. >[=] In so far as, [...], in proporti... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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How did (the cross-linguistic univerbation) 'nothing/not/none/no + less' semantically shift to mean 'despite'? Several West European languages, most spoken in 2022, feature cognate adverbs with the meaning of ''nevertheless' by univerbating "nothing/not/none/no" +"less". 1. What semantic notions underlie their original literal ("nothing/never the less") and modern subsequent (despite something that you ... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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How did 'ad-' + 'rogare' compound to mean 'to make great claims about oneself'? 1. What does the prefix ad- semantically mean here? 2. How did the compounding of ad- + rogare yield 'to make great claims about oneself' and "to claim for oneself, assume"? 3. What semantic notions underlie ad- + rogare with 'to make great claims about oneself'? Doubtless, the act of asking ... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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How can fulsome constitute "a case of ironic understatement"? Pretend that you're Devil's Advocate. 1. How can you possibly contend that fulsome is "a case of ironic understatement"? 2. What's ironic? 3. What's fulsome understating? "fulsome" feels redundant for 2 reasons. 4. If something's FULL (e.g. a cup of water), then it's physically imposs... (more) |
— | about 2 years ago |
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A: What semantic notions underlie "pull, drag" (in tractō) 🡒 "negotiate, bargain" (in 'treat')? I revamped Serious-Telephone142's answer for grammar. >Negotiation involves a metaphorical pushing and pulling, a give and take. This sense is preserved in the modern English word 'intractable,' referring to someone who refuses to be pulled (so to speak) on an issue. > >It is not such a leap fro... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
| Question | — |
What semantic notions underlie "pull, drag" (in tractō) 🡒 "negotiate, bargain" (in 'treat')? Etymonline below blazons the sense of "negotiate, bargain" in treat. Please see the green line for the sense of "pull, drag" from tractō. I added the red lines beside 8(b) and 9, because these senses of tractō appertain to "negotiate, bargain". Negotiation and bargaining usually require discussio... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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What semantic notions underlie vērum's 2 superficially unrelated senses — "truly" vs. 'but; yet; however'? How did the adverb vērum semantically shift from "truly" to mean 'but, yet, however'? These 2 senses look completely unrelated to me! Image alt text Oxford Latin Dictionary (2012 2 ed), pp 2254-5. (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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Why did linguists choose 'Patient' (noun) to denote this Thematic Role? > THEMES and PATIENTS are rather similar, and not all linguists distinguish between these roles. A THEME typically moves from one location or one person to another, like the letter in (31). A PATIENT (or undergoer), like the window in (35), is physically affected by the ... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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Why does the Latin prefix 'in-' also mean the English 'to', when Latin 'ad-' already means 'to'? I quote Etymonline on impute (v.): >early 15c., from Old French imputer, emputer (14c.) and directly from Latin imputare "to reckon, make account of, charge, ascribe," from assimilated form of in- "in, into" (from PIE root en "in")(2)) + putare "to trim, prune; reckon, clea... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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A: How does taking, buying, procuring (emō) semantically appertain to destruction, annihilation (perimō)? I admit I'm unschooled at Googling! Only after I wrote this post, did I stumble on Draconis's answer on Latin SE. >While emō normally means "buy", the ancestral meaning seems to have been something like "take". Compare the Proto-Slavic cognate ę-ti "take, acquire", or the distant Latin relative pō... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How does taking, buying, procuring (emō) semantically appertain to destruction, annihilation (perimō)? As you can read below, emō meant to take, buy, gain, procure. But perimō meant to destroy and annihilate. Plainly, their meanings differ! So why was perimō formed from emō and compounded with per-? How does emō semantically appertain to perimō's meanings? >### peremptory [16] > >Peremptory com... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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A: How does "happening" appertain to "(be)falling"? u/yutani333 answered this at https://old.reddit.com/r/linguistics/comments/r5gp90/whydosomanylanguagesexpresshappeningas/hmspxm6/. >The central idea of the metaphor of "fall" > "happen" is one of agency. When something happens to you, you are generally not the agent of that action (cf. I happen (t... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How's inVEST semantically related to VEST? How did the "idea of dressing your capital up in different clothes" arise? Isn't "the idea of dressing one’s capital up in different clothes by putting it into a particular business, stock, etc" batty? This semantic relationship would never cross the mind of an amateur retail investor! Before reading these quotations below, I never heard of this kooky "idea of dressing o... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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What semantic notions underlie the legal meaning of 'vest' — with its original meanings of 'robe', 'gown'? How does the legal meaning of 'vest' (quoted first below) semantically appertain to its original lay meanings of 'robe', 'gown' (quoted second)? >VESTING >the satisfaction of all the requirements necessary for a right to property to become unconditional; the completion of the transfer of pr... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How does saeculum ( “generation” or “lifetime") semantically relate to PIE root *se- "to sow"? Why did historical linguists impute saeculum to PIE se-? What semantic notions underlie them? All boldenings are mine. secular (adj) > c. 1300, "living in the world, not belonging to a religious order," also "belonging to the state," from Old French seculer (Modern French séculier), from Late ... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How does propitius (“favorable, well-disposed") semantically relate to PIE root *per- (1) "forward")? Why did historical linguists impute propitius to PIE per-1? What semantic notions underlie them? All boldenings are mine. > # propitiation (n.) > > late 14c., propiciacioun, "atonement, expiation," from Late Latin propitiationem (nominative propitiatio) "an atonement," noun of action from past... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did 'unless' evolve to mean 'if not'? >[[Etymonline:]](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowedinframe=0&search=unless&searchmode=none) mid-15c., earlier onlesse, from on lesse (than) "`on a less condition (than)`; see less. The first syllable originally on, but the negative connotation and the lack of stress changed it to un-. ... ... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did syn + ek + dekhesthai compound to signify 'synecdoche' (a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole)? How do syn, ex-, dekhesthai appertain to the Modern English definition of synecdoche? I am baffled, because all 3 Greek morphemes appear UNRELATED to this literary term. 1. 'synecdoche' doesn't appertain to "with" or (any notion of) togetherness. What does syn mean here? 2. 'synecdoche' doe... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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Is the etymology of 'amphigory' semantically related to the English idiom 'go round in circles'? Any semantic relationship between amphigory > # amphigory (n.) > > "burlesque nonsense writing or verse," 1809, from French amphigouri (18c.), which is of unknown origin, perhaps itself a nonsense word, though the first element seems to suggest Greek amphi (see amphi-). The second sometimes is ... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did 'equity' semantically broaden to mean 'common shares'? I ask about its meaning merely for stocks here (not Equity = Assets — Liabilities). See Personal Finance For Canadians For Dummies (2018), p 217. >Equity — not to be confused with equity in real estate — is another word for stocks. >![enter image description here][1] [1]: https://i.s... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did 'equity' semantically shift to signify 'Assets — Liabilities'? Here I ask merely ask about Equity = Assets — Liabilities here, not its meaning as stock. 1. Why was 'equity' was adopted to describe this difference? >equity: In the real-estate world, this term refers to the difference between the market value of your home and what you owe on it. For example,... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did "bail" shift to signify "money deposited as a guarantee when released"? I fail to understand this etymology for bail (n.1), particularly the first paragraph. > [3.] "bond money, security given to obtain the release of a prisoner," late 15c., a sense that apparently developed from that of [2.] "temporary release (of an arrested person) from jail" (into the... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did 'security' semantically shift to signify 'tradable financial asset'? What semantic notions underlie the Latinate meanings of 'security' (quoting Etymonline first) >mid-15c., "condition of being secure," from Latin securitas, from securus "free from care" (see secure). > >secure [16] Something that is secure is etymologically ‘carefree’. The word was borrowed fr... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did « histoire », in « histoire de/que », semantically shift to signify "in order to/that"? This French StackExchange post merely paraprhased "histoire de/que" as afin de / afin que, meaning pour / pour que — all this can be translated as "in order to/that" in English. But nobody in fact mooted, let alone, expatiate the etymology of "histoire de/que"! histoire itself entered English as... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did 'videlicet' (it's permissible to see) semantically shift 🢂 to signify 'to wit, namely'? How did meaning 1 beneath semantically shift to 2? How does seeing or sight 🡲 semantically appertain to wit or knowledge? >## viz. > > 1530s, abbreviation of videlicet [2.] "that is to say, to wit, namely" (mid-15c.), from Latin videlicet, contraction of videre licet [1.] "it is permi... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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scilicet: How did 'it is permitted to know' semantically shift to signify 'that is to say, namely'? 1. How did signification 1 beneath semantically shift to 2? 2. I'm befuddled by the relevant of licit, because what does "permitted" here signify? Why would a Roman require permission to know something? scilicet on Etymonline. > late 14c., Latin, "you may know, you may be sure, it is certai... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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What's the semantic field of "putare"? What SINGLE bigger picture and base meaning relates, bestrides, and underlies all 9 of putare's superficially UNrelated, but multitudinous, meanings below?  Oxford Latin Dictionary (2012 2 ed), pp 1679-1680. (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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How did 'style' signify names of court cases? Can you please expatiate on ohwilleke's answer? She asseverated >My suspicion is that the Latin/French word for a writing instrument ends up being used for the act of using a writing instrument to place a name upon something, which in turn comes to mean the name written as a result of this act, wh... (more) |
— | over 2 years ago |
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Why does "counter" mean the area of a letter entirely, or partially, enclosed by a letter form or a symbol? 1. Etymonline's entries for the homonyms "counter" don't semantically appertain to its meaning in typography. How does "counter" in typography relate to the common lay English 2021 meanings of "counter"? Solely Wrzlprmft♦'s answer distinguishes "counter" from "aperture". 2. Why did the typography ... (more) |
— | almost 3 years ago |
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Why did David Ricardo coin "rent", to signify income from a factor of production that exceeds the minimum amount necessary (to beget that factor of production)? 1. At the time that Ricardo (1772-1823) coined "rent", did "rent" already signify Modern English's lay meaning of 'rent' (tenant's regular payment to a landlord for the use of property or land)? How prevalent was this ordinary meaning? 2. If so, why did Ricardo still coin "rent" and beget this a... (more) |
— | almost 3 years ago |
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How does the original meaning of “but” (“outside”) relate to its current 2021 meanings? How do the principal 2021 meanings of "but" relate, if any, to its original meaning of "outside"? E.g. how does "no more than; only" appertain to "outside"? >### CONJUNCTION >1. Used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned. >2. [with negative or in q... (more) |
— | almost 3 years ago |