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martes, 24 de febrero de 2015

¡Cuán maravillosa es la etimología!












¡Cuán maravillosa es la etimología! Y no lo digo con ánimo de sesudo estudioso, ni con ampulosidad de taxidermista que se recrea en espejismos. Yo siempre he pensado que no podemos hablar sin amor a las palabras de que nos valemos. De allí que me parezca natural buscar las fuentes ancestrales de donde deviene cada palabra. Buena culpa de ello la tiene mi padre, quien siempre corregía cualquier voz mal empleada. Bueno, él perteneció a una casta de seres para los que honestidad no era una noción perdida. Mi comentario viene al caso por la sencilla razón de que, hace dos noches, Sebastian me envió un poema suyo recién sacado del horno. Lo escribió en inglés. As the evening dreamt, así le ha titulado. Y debo decir que, en medio de la sutil llaneza de las pinceladas esbozadas por él en tan breves líneas, me asombró la bella combinación de palabras. Y me dije, este maraco me anda tomando el pelo, apoyándose en palabras que uno no ve tan a menudo. 

No voy a colocar su boceto aquí, por los momentos, por esa misma razón: es un boceto. Hay alguna línea que él desea revisar, pulirla si se puede. Pero llamo la atención sobre una de las palabras en que se apoya para cimentar su decir. Es la palabra ‘Shun’. Inmediatamente me fui al Diccionario etimológico, pues no me iba a quedar con esa. Y miren lo que resultó, toda una historia viva de una palabra que respira a trastiendas. Algo que sucede en toda lengua.

Salud!
lacl
P.D. Espero poder dejar pronto, en estos espacios, los escarceos de mi hijo con la Diosa Blanca.


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shun (v.) Look up shun at Dictionary.com Old English scunian "to shun, avoid; abhor; desist, abstain; to hide, seek safety by concealment," of uncertain origin; not found in any other language. Perhaps ultimately from PIE root *skeu- "to cover, to hide." Related: Shunned; shunning. A shun-pike (American English, 1911) was a road constructed to avoid tolls. shunt (v.) Look up shunt at Dictionary.com early 13c., "to shy, start," perhaps from shunen "to shun" (see shun), and altered by influence of shot or shut. Meaning "to turn aside" is from late 14c.; that of "move out of the way" is from 1706. Adopted by railways from 1842. Related: Shunted; shunting. eschew (v.) Look up eschew at Dictionary.com mid-14c., from Old French eschiver "shun, eschew, avoid, dispense with," from Frankish *skiuhan "dread, avoid, shun," from Proto-Germanic *skeukhwaz (cognates: Old High German sciuhen "to avoid, escape," German scheuen "to fear, shun, shrink from," scheu "shy, timid"); see shy (adj.). Related: Eschewed; eschewing; eschewal; eschewance. Italian schivare "to avoid, shun, protect from," schivo "shy, bashful" are related loan words from Germanic. For e-, see e-. evitable (adj.) Look up evitable at Dictionary.com c.1500, from Latin evitabilis "avoidable," from evitare "to shun, avoid" (see inevitable). In modern use, likely a back-formation from inevitable. abominate (v.) Look up abominate at Dictionary.com 1640s, back-formation from abomination or from Latin abominatus, past participle of abominari "shun as an ill omen" (see abomination). Related: Abominated; abominating. inevitable (adj.) Look up inevitable at Dictionary.com mid-15c., from Latin inevitabilis "unavoidable," from in- "not, opposite of" (see in- (1)) + evitabilis "avoidable," from evitare "to avoid," from ex- "out" (see ex-) + vitare "shun," originally "go out of the way." canine (n.) Look up canine at Dictionary.com "pointed tooth," late 14c., from Latin caninus "of the dog," genitive of canis "dog" (source of Italian cane, French chien), from PIE root *kwon- "dog" (cognates: Greek kyon, Old English hund, Old High German hunt, Old Irish cu, Welsh ci, Sanskrit svan-, Avestan spa, Russian sobaka (apparently from an Iranian source, such as Median spaka), Armenian shun, Lithuanian šuo). The noun meaning "dog" is first recorded 1869. scare (v.) Look up scare at Dictionary.com 1590s, alteration of Middle English skerren (c.1200), from Old Norse skirra "to frighten; to shrink from, shun; to prevent, avert," related to skjarr "timid, shy, afraid of," of unknown origin. In Scottish also skair, skar, and in dialectal English skeer, skear, which seems to preserve the older pronunciation. To scare up "procure, obtain" is first recorded 1846, American English, from notion of rousing game from cover. Related: Scared; scaring. shy (adj.) Look up shy at Dictionary.com late Old English sceoh "timid, easily startled," from Proto-Germanic *skeukh(w)az "afraid" (cognates: Middle Low German schüwe, Dutch schuw, German scheu "shy;" Old High German sciuhen, German scheuchen "to scare away"). Uncertain cognates outside Germanic, unless in Old Church Slavonic shchuti "to hunt, incite." Italian schivare "to avoid," Old French eschiver "to shun" are Germanic loan-words. Meaning "lacking, short of" is from 1895, American English gambling slang. Related: Shyly; shyness. fugitive (adj.) Look up fugitive at Dictionary.com late 14c., "fleeing, having fled, having taken flight," from Old French fugitif, fuitif "absent, missing," from Latin fugitivus "fleeing," past participle adjective from stem of fugere "to flee, fly, take flight, run away; become a fugitive, leave the country, go into exile; pass quickly; vanish, disappear, perish; avoid, shun; escape the notice of, be unknown to," from PIE root *bheug- (1) "to flee" (cognates: Greek pheugein "to flee," Lithuanian bugstu "be frightened," bauginti "frighten someone," baugus "timid, nervous"). Old English had flyma.

Meaning "lasting but a short time, fleeting" is from c.1500. Hence its use in literature for short compositions written for passing occasions or purposes (1766). foreclose (v.) Look up foreclose at Dictionary.com late 13c., from Old French forclos, past participle of forclore "exclude, shut out; shun; drive away" (12c.), from fors "out" (Modern French hors; from Latin foris "outside;" see foreign) + clore "to shut" (see close (v.)). Senses in English influenced by words in for- (which is partly synonymous with the Latin word) and spelling by a mistaken association with native fore-. Specific mortgage law sense is first attested 1728. Other Middle English for- words in which the same prefix figures include forjuggen "condemn, convict, banish;" forloinen "forsake, stray from," and forfeit. Related: Foreclosed; foreclosing. abomination (n.) Look up abomination at Dictionary.com early 14c., "abominable thing or action;" late 14c., "feeling of disgust, hatred, loathing," from Old French abominacion "abomination, horror, repugnance, disgust" (13c.), from Latin abominationem (nominative abominatio) "abomination," noun of action from past participle stem of abominari "shun as an ill omen," from ab- "off, away from" (see ab-) + omin-, stem of omen (see omen). Meaning intensified by folk etymology derivation from Latin ab homine "away from man," thus "beastly."

Doubtless, the life of an Irregular is hard; but the interests of the Greater Number require that it shall be hard. If a man with a triangular front and a polygonal back were allowed to exist and to propagate a still more Irregular posterity, what would become of the arts of life? Are the houses and doors and churches in Flatland to be altered in order to accommodate such monsters? [Edwin Abbot, "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions," 1885]


A pie de texto dejo la consulta del enlace, tal como aparece 'Shun' en el Online Etymology Dictionary...

Salud!



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