Re: Roots of English language

From: Anti-imperialist (ai_at_anti-imperialist.net)
Date: 09/14/04 

Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 00:53:13 -0700

"M. Ranjit Mathews" wrote:
>
> Anti-imperialist <ai@anti-imperialist.net> wrote ...
>
> > > You may be interested that English
> > "evil" is related to Sanskrit "Upanishads" and "opal".
>
> I can't seem to find an "opal".

English "opal" is from Sanskrit "upala" (precious) stone. From
IndoEuropean (IE) "upo" - under, up from under, over -> "upelo" ->
Germanic "upilaz" - over the proper limits -> Old English "yfel" = evil.

IE "upo" under, up from under, over -> Sanskrit "upo" - near to (strange
semantic change) -> Sanskrit "upala" (precious) stone -> English "opal"
>
> > Bizarre, huh?
>
> Relation to "Upanishad" seems bizarre. <upa> doesn't mean evil.

IE "upo" under, up from under, over -> Sanskrit "upo" - near to (strange
semantic change) -> Sanskrit "Upanisad" - sitting down near to. "upa" =
near to + "ni" = down + "sad" = sit. "Ni" and "sad" are IE roots too.
"Ni" -> English "beneath" "underneath" "nether". "Sed" -> sit, sitz,
saddle, seat, soil, session, sewer, siege, chair, ephedrine, sedan,
sedate, hostage, settle, ersatz, obsess, dissident, sediment,
Sanhedrin. :D

> Would you find it bizarre that Malayalam <tApanila> means, and is
> cognate with, English temperature?
>
> Sanskrit <tApas> = heat; cognate with "temper"
> Tamil <nila> = level

This is probably a Tamil borrowing from Sanskrit "tapas" but you never
know, maybe you found another Nostratic root eh?

It couldn't be cognate unless you want to go into Greenberg's
Nostratic? Are you talking Nostratic here? Because Dravidian is not
formally recognized as related to IndoEuropean (IE). 

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