languages and scripts
Joined June 2017
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tonogenesis retweeted
this reminds me of the Austronesian *sayaŋ and *qasiq, both reflected in Malay Sayang and Kasih, Javanese Sayang and Sih/Asih, etc., which also encompass pity, compassion, and affection
𓈉 is ḫꜣs.t, the “sos” in Hyksos, the Egyptian manifestation of the semantic development that brought us favorites like heathen, pagan, goy, dasyu, etc.
It still amazes me that Bronze Age philology is even a thing. Imagine telling that to a guy in the 18th century. Here's to the Copper Age next!
It’s funny seeing naturalistic art from antiquity because we tend to think of peoples like the Scythians as these exotic mythical figures from a vanished world, and then you see what one actually looked like and it’s just some Russian guy.
Ancient Greek account of human skin color variation sounds very modern:
“And indeed [the Sun] is also the cause of men being black, white, and yellow, and of their differing in other respects of appearance, owing to the manner in which it sends its rays upon the climes of the earth.”
καὶ μὴν καὶ τοῦ μέλανας εἶναι καὶ λευκοὺς ἀνθρώπους καὶ ξανθοὺς καὶ κατὰ τὰς ἄλλας ἰδέας διαφέροντας αὐτὸς αἴτιος γίνεται παρὰ τὸ πῶς ἀποπέμπειν τὰς ἀκτῖνας ἐπὶ τὰ κλίματα τῆς γῆς.
—Cleomedes
Back in the day Egypt would take Canaanite princes hostage and raise them at the royal court. Today we have Fulbright scholarships and college exchange programs. Reminds one of Žižek’s parable about the permissive father.
sorrel sounds like it should be a fish, herring sounds like it should be a bird, and impala sounds like it should be a big cat
the concept of the pre-Germanic word for foreigner being “Volk”
Medieval Portuguese developed all those -ão endings as a phonological premonition of its future role in China. The Weltgeist in action.
