Comments on: That sleepy “sl”

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 23:27:19 +0000

I think LS is on the right track.

It’s not that the sound matches the action so much as all the languages that came up with these words probably have a common root language which had a word along the same lines that started with that sound.

If anyone wants to look for more info on the net, keep in mind that not all the languages that use this character set have similar sounds for the respective letters. SL or SK might not line up to the same sounds… in even other live languages today. But that’s another story.

But from what I know, I’d bet the sk sound has to do with “silent” and “stealth” more than retreat.

By: Assistant Village Idiot

Assistant Village Idiot — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:41:20 +0000

Surelin, you are not mistaken. The sk- is northern, Scandinavian, while sh- is southern in English. So skirt and shirt were originally the same garment, the fashions changing in the two regions, so we now different words, different garments. Similarly, dike and ditch were the same dual fortification, but the word in the north became associated with the upper part, in the south with the lower. Shriek/screech, kirk/church, skiff/ship – they are called “doublets” in etymology.

Neo has wandered into a debate that ebbs and flows among historical linguists and cognitive scientists. There is also “fl-” found in flow, fly, flee, flutter, flip, flame etc in English, but also found in languages (supposedly) unrelated, yet having the same quick movement associations. Merritt Ruhlen, tracing these many examples back, claims that the fl- root was part of our original language. Most other historical linguists dismiss this with great irritation. I happen to think he’s got some very solid arguments, myself, and the more traditional linguists have essentially circular ones.

By: Hangtown Bob

Hangtown Bob — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:51:55 +0000

Then, we also have words and combinations of word to be used instead of swearing ….. gosh darn, gol dang, heck, shucks, to name a few.

By: Surellin

Surellin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 12:53:05 +0000

If I am not mistaken, LS is right – the “sk” words are almost all of Scandinavian origin. Throw in “skirt” and even “skirling” (the sound of a bagpipe). Our Scottish cousins probably wouldn’t like the notion that that last is Norse, though….

By: Baklava

Baklava — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 04:24:19 +0000

Stemocrats are stuck on stupid.
Sliberals are slow and slazy.
Sneaky snickering snowjobbers are snakes
Smack a smattering of smascists.

By: SteveH

SteveH — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:35:40 +0000

I like words that seem to effortlessly roll off the tounge. One of my favorites is Ticonderoga. Another is Tittabawassee, since i saw it on a sign last week in Michigan and became infatuated with it. 🙂

By: neocon hippie

neocon hippie — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:33:27 +0000

Then there’s st-; many words starting with that phoneme indicate cessation or lack of movement. Stick, stuck, stand, stop, station, stay…

By: rickl

rickl — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:44:00 +0000

Of course there's also the scutie. Alas.

By: rickl

rickl — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:37:45 +0000

Dang, forgot to close the blockquote tag again.

By: rickl

rickl — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:35:50 +0000

Then there's the skink.

Not to be confused with skank.

The Wikipedia page actually says that.