Friday, July 20, 2007

More Latin learning

I glanced over at the Latin side of the page in Phaedrus this morning and made another discovery. Not quite as fun as last night's, though.

"Columbae" is "dove" in Latin.

Could it be, could it be -- yes, columbine means dove-like, my dictionary assures me. As in the flower. And thus, too, the Colorado city where so much sadness happened a few years ago.

"Galamb" is dove in Hungarian -- did the Magyar folk borrow the word from the Catholic priests who settled among them after their conversion to Christianity?

And in Spanish today, the word is "paloma." As in the city in California. Same Latin derivation, of course.

6 comments:

Cristina said...

Hi-hi. I found a page featuring one of Aesop's fables, in Latin. It's got doves (or pigeons?) in it all right and you're actually supposed to try and translate. Just in case :)

Rebecca said...

Many languages are related. I find that particular area of study fascinating--language families, proto-languages. Sort of a genealogy for the spoken word.

Eastcoastdweller said...

Trisia: I'm nowhere near ready to translate Latin. Someday, maybe, after I master Hebrew, my current focus.

The fable that correlates to this entry is No. 31 of Phaedrus's collection, which of course is based on Aesop. It's called The Kite and the Doves, and it has to do with choosing evil leaders and the consequences thereof.

RP: It is indeed absolutely fascinating -- I love language and words, too, and the history behind them.

Eastcoastdweller said...

You know, Trisia, one thing that I really appreciate about your comments to this blog is that you often include a weblink. That enriches the discussion. Thank you.

Wanderlust Scarlett said...

And I thought I was the only person on the whole planet who loves to study the etymology of words, and has a passionate hunger for Latin.

Well, it would seem I am in good company.

I've come by to visit at the request of Hearts in SF. She highly recommended your site, and I am SO glad that she did.
I love the look and feel of it.
I read all the way down to the bottom and didn't leave a message, so it's time I did that.

I have linked to your page, because it appealed to me so much.
Good writing, good mind. Loved your dog.. too, by the way.

Be back soon,

Scarlett & Viaggiatore (the lion)

Eastcoastdweller said...

Scarlett:

Thanks for stopping by and for linking my page. I can't believe that You read the whole thing! Some cyber-Alka-Seltzer might help with the resultant indigestion.

I suspect that there are quite a few of us around here who love words, and that that is one reason why we blog.