Fire

A few will be aware I have been known to speak on various subjects over the years. Fundamentally these all revolve around my favourite subject of etymology. Have always enjoyed bringing this fascinating subject to others. It’s not for me to say whether the audiences have, although many have asked me to return.

Thought it might be worthwhile sharing a snippet or two from these etymological presentations, continuing with Fire. Without it there would be no technology for it arguably forms the basis for every ensuing development beginning with cooking. Here for an hour listen to how fire, which must have been one of the earliest words ever coined, has apparently still to be tamed by mankind as a selection of narratives from yesterday and today show just how daft some people can be. There is a PowerPoint presentation to accompany this talk if required.

Fire will have been one of our earliest technologies. Indeed without fire it could be argued that no other technology could have existed, for without fire no smelting or heating or any description and thus no metals or chemicals.

As an etymologist, I am aware the word ‘fire’ will have been one of the earliest coined. We know the English word came from Proto-Germanic fyr and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European. This ancient tongue, the origin of the vast majority of languages across Europe, the Middle East and India, actually had two words for ‘fire’ – paewr and egni (these giving us ‘power’ and ‘ignite’). Paewr was used to refer to fire as inanimate, ie as a substance, while egni refers to fire as an animate living force

If you think you know someone who would like to hear me speak on this subject, drop me a line.

Synonym Etymologies H

Continuing the look at synonyms through the eyes of the etymologist, this time it is the letter H and hot. As ever a simple mono-syllabic word is very old and often difficult to trace very far. We do know it is Germanic and has never changed its meaning in all that time. It does seem to have been used to refer to objects which have are overly warm, rather than air temperature or any comment on the weather. Perhaps of greater interest is the Middle English pronunciation with a long vowel, thus rhyming with such as 'boat' or 'wrote'.

Warm began as the adjective, another of Germanic origins, and also one where the early roots are unclear as use of the word has never changes.

Balmy is from 'balm' and did originally refer to something 'soothing, relaxing'. The term has the same root as the balsam tree, both referring to the therapeutic properties.

Boiling, from 'boil', is derived from the Proto-Indo-European roos beu 'to swell'. The reference to heat needs no explanation.

Searing is from 'sear', and originally began meaning 'dry'. Again the heat reference is self-explanatory.

Roasting, from 'roast', refers to meat cooked on a grill or grate, and not used as a term for food cooked in an oven (which should be 'bake') until around the start of the 14th century. As with other simplistic words, the meaning has never changed.

Scorching is from 'scorch', itself used in many early Germanic languages to mean 'shrink, dry up'. Note there is also an Old English word scorchen meaning 'strip the skin from', which has the same origins.

Spicy today is used to refer to something a little piquant, and yet the root is in Latin where it was used in the sense of 'kind, sort' and is related to the word 'species'.

Piquant is clearly of French derivation, and is from the Old French piquer 'to prick, sting, nettle', and has the same root as 'pike' (as in the weapon).

Strong only became used in the flavour sense in recent times, earlier 'strong' was used in the sense of 'severe, firm, bold, resolute' and is derived from Proto-Indo-European strenk meaning 'tigh, narrow'.

Pungent has the same origins as 'piquant' above, although it came across to English much earlier.

Aromatic, from 'aroma', is from the Latin aroma meaning 'sweet odour' and/or the Greek aroma meaning 'spice, herb'.

Ardent is the first of the hot synonyms where it describes someone as 'attractive'. It was once used to describe the effect of alcoholic spirits, and is derived from Proto-Indo-European as 'to burn, glow'.

Sexy is clearly from 'sex' which, in the gender sense, is only seen from 1520s. Earlier, 'sex' was used to mean 'to sever', thus the division between male and female genders was recognised by the Romans with the Latin sexus and sectio.

Desirable, from 'desire', comes from the Old French verb desirrer, itself from the Latin desiderare which meant 'long for, wish' as the modern 'desire' but could also seen as the phrase de sidere 'from the stars' and thus 'awaiting what the stars will bring'.

Sultry comes from an obsolete verb sulter which meant the same as 'swelter', the use of which is clear.

Alluring, from 'allure', began in English from the Old French alurer. This was not only used to mean 'attract, captivate' but also 'to train' when used in the context of hunting with falcons. If this sounds rather odd, then compare the lure used to train falcons.

Seductive is from 'seduce' which came to English from Latin seducere 'to lead astray' and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European deuk 'to lead'.

Dishy, unknown until 1961, clearly describes someone as resembling a dish, but just why anyone would wish to be compared to a plate (for that is what a tisc was) is a complete mystery to me.

Current is the first of the synonyms meaning 'in vogue' or perhaps 'popular'. It is not used in the sense in English until the middle of the 15th century, it comes from Old French corant meaning 'lively, running, eager' and it is this positive sense which has endured.

Contemporary is one of those oddities which I never saw as representing Latin con 'together' and a form of 'temporal' until I began studying it. The modern sense is only two centuries old, and until around the same time, the word was 'cotemporary' and meant 'together in time'.

Recent is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ken meaning 'fresh, new, young'. Note the present meaning is only known since the 1620s, while for much of the following four centuries you were as likely to see 'recency' as 'recent'.

The word we began with, 'hot', reminded me of something I heard whilst waiting in the queue at the bank - that I was queuing in the bank dates it. The bank clerk/teller asked the customer, who was bringing back unused foreign currency, how did she find her time abroad. "Oh yer know", replies the customer. "'O'!" One word, one syllable. three letters, and she managed to get rid of two letters. This meant employing both an unaspiration and a glottal stop in a three-letter word. I still wince when I think of it.

Vanuatu Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Vanuatu cities.

Lorevilko gets its name from the East Santo language and means 'wild kava'.

Port Vila is self-explanatory and means exactly what it seems.

Ambrym was allegedly named 'ham rim' by Captain Cook, although there is no evidence he ever landed here.

Erromango is said to have been named when Captain Cook came here and was given a yam to eat. In the Sorung language he was told armai n'go meaning 'this food is good' but he thought it was the name of the island.

Shepherd Islands were named by Captain Cook after his friend Anthony Shepherd, a British astronomer.

Vot Tande means 'the rock of frigatebirds'.

Merelava in the Mota language means 'the big boy', compare this with the nearby island of Meryriyi 'the small boy'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.