a, the first letter

Word Origins

Dedicated to finding real origins of words in several languages
Edition 3

aag
Indian Hindi/Urdu word meaning ‘fire’

Origin
Indian Sanskrit Agni ‘god of fire’

Related Words
Russian ogon ‘fire’
Latin ignis ‘fire’
English words like ignite, ignition etc.

aah
exclamation word in most languages

Origin
Indian Tamil aaka

The Transition
Indian Tamil k sound becomes h sound in Indian Sanskrit, Hindi/Urdu, Arabic and other European languages.
Eg.: Indian Tamil mukam ‘face’ = Indian Sanskrit mukham ‘face’= Indian Hindi/Urdu muh ‘face’ = Arabic muhayyam ‘face’.

Indian Tamil k sound becomes h sound in Indian Sanskrit and g sound in Latin and English.
Eg.: Indian Tamil makaa ‘big’ = Indian Sanskrit mahaa ‘big’= Greek megalos ‘big’ =Latin/English mega ‘big’.

aardvark
South African name for anteater, often called ‘earth pig’

Origin Words
Arabic ard ‘earth’
Indian Sanskrit varaaha ‘boar’

Related Word
German derErdferkel

How does Indian Sanskrit varaaha become South African vark?

Sanskrit varaaha has v-r-h sounds.
Indian Tamil k sound becomes h sound in Indian Sanskrit, Hindi/Urdu, Arabic and other European languages.
Eg.: Indian Tamil mukam ‘face’ = Indian Sanskrit mukham ‘face’= Indian Hindi/Urdu muh ‘face’ = Arabic muhayyam ‘face’.

Thus South Afrcan vark = Indian Sanskrit varaaha.
Arabic ard + South African vark (from Sanskrit varaaha) = aardvark

How does South African vark become German ferkel part of der Erdferkel?

German v has f sound.
Eg. German Volk is pronounced as Folk.
Thus South African vark (from Indian Sanskrit varaaha) = German ferkel part of Erdferkel.
Arabic ard + German ferkel (from South African vark from Sanskrit varaaha) = German der Erdferkel

ab
Arabic word meaning ‘water’

Origin
Indian Sanskrit apa ‘water’

Explanation
Arabic has no p sound. So Indian Sanskrit apa becomes Arabic ab

Other Related Words
Latin aqua
Indian p sound becomes k sound.

Spanish agua
Indian p sound becomes g sound

abandon

Origin Words
Indian Sanskrit prefix a- ‘not’
Indian Sanskrit bandh ‘bond’, ‘tie’

Related Words
German das Abhandkommen ‘loss’
Spanish abandoner
English abandon

Mechanism
All words derive from the union of a + bandh

abba
Popular Jewish first name

Origins
Indian Tamil appa ‘father’

Explanation
One Indian Tamil consonant has both p and b sounds.
So Indian Tamil appa = Jewish abba

abbess

Origins
Indian Tamil appa ‘father’

Explanation
One Indian Tamil consonant has both p and b sounds.
So Indian Tamil appa = English abbot
English abbess is the feminine version of abbot.

abbey
English word meaning ‘home of the abbot or abbess’

abbot

Origins
Indian Tamil appa ‘father’

Explanation
One Indian Tamil consonant has both p and b sounds.
So Indian Tamil appa = English abbot

abed
means ‘in bed’

Origin Words
English prefix a ‘in’
Indian Tamil padu ‘lie down’
Indian Tamil padukkai ‘bed’

Mechanism
One Indian Tamil consonant has both p and b sounds.
Thus Indian Tamil padu can be pronounced as badu.

Thus English a + Indian Tamil badu = English abed.

abound
English word meaning ‘plenty ‘

Origin Words
Indian Sanskrit prefix a- ‘not’
Indian Sanskrit bandh ‘bind’, ‘bound’

Mechanism
Indian Sanskrit a + Indian Sanskrit bandh = English abound


See our previous edition
http://wordorigins.wordpress.com/2006/12/22/hello-world/


Contact us
rangiranganath@yahoo.com
habbakkuk@gmail.com
kmguru@hotmail.com


See our other articles and books

http://www.geocities.com/kmguru2000/Ignorance.doc

OPOL: http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/viewbook.php?bid=419

Roots: http://www.authorsonline.co.uk/viewbook.php?bid=510