Discussion:
Finishing Crystal
(too old to reply)
Ross Clark
2024-12-17 20:22:48 UTC
Permalink
I'm off for a small holiday, back in early January.
Here are the remaining Days from Crystal's _A Date with Language_:

Jane Austen born (16/12/1775)
Dorothy L.Sayers died (17/12/1957)
Arabic Language Day (18 December)
Emily Brontë died (19/12/1848)
Dot Your i's Day (20 December)
Crossword Puzzle Day (21 December)
Be A Lover Of Silence Day (22 December)
Charles-Michel de l'Épée died (23/12/1789)
William Makepeace Thackeray died (24/12/1863)
A'phabet Day (25 December)
Thomas Gray born (26/12/1716)
Charles Lamb died (27/12/1834)
Susan Sontag died (28/12/2004)
Don Marquis died (29/12/1937)
Rudyard Kipling born (30/12/1865)
A linguistic New Year's Eve (31 December)
...the last including "Happy New Year!" in 50 (mostly European) languages.

So Happy A'phabet Day and "Vitin e ri!"
to all at sci.lang.
Ross
Aidan Kehoe
2024-12-18 11:43:18 UTC
Permalink
[...] So Happy A'phabet Day and "Vitin e ri!" to all at sci.lang.
Enjoy your holiday, Ross, best wishes for the season, and thanks for your post
over the year.
--
‘As I sat looking up at the Guinness ad, I could never figure out /
How your man stayed up on the surfboard after fourteen pints of stout’
(C. Moore)
Stefan Ram
2024-12-27 10:13:15 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ross Clark
Susan Sontag died (28/12/2004)
Which is today [2024-12-28] 20 years in the rearview mirror . . .
HenHanna
2025-01-01 01:21:21 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ross Clark
I'm off for a small holiday, back in early January.
Jane Austen born (16/12/1775)
Dorothy L.Sayers died (17/12/1957)
Arabic Language Day (18 December)
Emily Brontë died (19/12/1848)
Dot Your i's Day (20 December) ----------- Why this date ?
Crossword Puzzle Day (21 December) -- Was this the day that famous one
was published?
Be A Lover Of Silence Day (22 December) ----------- Why this date ?
Charles-Michel de l'Épée died (23/12/1789)
William Makepeace Thackeray died (24/12/1863)
A'phabet Day (25 December)
Thomas Gray born (26/12/1716)
Charles Lamb died (27/12/1834)
Susan Sontag died (28/12/2004) --- Was she notable to Crystal?
Don Marquis died (29/12/1937)
Rudyard Kipling born (30/12/1865)
A linguistic New Year's Eve (31 December)
....the last including "Happy New Year!" in 50 (mostly European)
languages.
So Happy A'phabet Day and "Vitin e ri!"
to all at sci.lang.
Ross
"Vitin e ri!" -------- Do lots of Ling-buffs know this lang, or phrase?

is this Vitin cognate with French venir ?
Ross Clark
2025-01-02 21:53:52 UTC
Permalink
Post by HenHanna
Post by Ross Clark
I'm off for a small holiday, back in early January.
Jane Austen born (16/12/1775)
Dorothy L.Sayers died (17/12/1957)
Arabic Language Day (18 December)
Emily Brontë died (19/12/1848)
Dot Your i's Day (20 December)  ----------- Why this date ?
Crystal saith not.
Post by HenHanna
Post by Ross Clark
Crossword Puzzle Day (21 December) -- Was this the day that famous one
was published?
"The first published crossword puzzle appeared in the edition of the
_New York World_ newspaper on this day in 1913."
Post by HenHanna
Post by Ross Clark
Be A Lover Of Silence Day (22 December)  ----------- Why this date ?
"origins...unknown"
Post by HenHanna
Post by Ross Clark
Charles-Michel de l'Épée died (23/12/1789)
William Makepeace Thackeray died (24/12/1863)
A'phabet Day (25 December)
Thomas Gray born (26/12/1716)
Charles Lamb died (27/12/1834)
Susan Sontag died (28/12/2004) --- Was she notable to Crystal?
He doesn't mention any special connection. Just another Literary Person.
He quotes things she wrote about "style" and "metaphor".
Post by HenHanna
Post by Ross Clark
Don Marquis died (29/12/1937)
Rudyard Kipling born (30/12/1865)
A linguistic New Year's Eve (31 December)
....the last including "Happy New Year!" in 50 (mostly European)
languages.
So Happy A'phabet Day and "Vitin e ri!"
to all at sci.lang.
Ross
"Vitin e ri!" -------- Do lots of Ling-buffs know this lang, or phrase?
I couldn't say. It's Albanian, the first item on the 50-language list.
The meager Albanian language resources within a 1m range of my keyboard
tell me that _vit_ means 'year' and _(i) ri_ means 'new'.
Post by HenHanna
is this Vitin  cognate with French  venir ?
No. According to Buck 1940 there's a PIE *wet(es)- which gives us:
Greek (w)etos 'year'
Sanskrit vatsa- 'calf (yearling)'
tri-vatsa- 'three years old'
Albanian vjet 'year'
and might be connected with Latin vetus 'old'.
Watkins 2000 adds English wether (Germanic *wethruz) and Latin vitulus
'calf, yearling'.
HenHanna
2025-01-03 01:53:48 UTC
Permalink
Post by Ross Clark
Post by Ross Clark
I'm off for a small holiday, back in early January.
Jane Austen born (16/12/1775)
Dorothy L.Sayers died (17/12/1957)
Arabic Language Day (18 December)
Emily Brontë died (19/12/1848)
Two dots over e ------- What ethnicity is that?



The two dots over the "e" in "Brontë" are called an umlaut or
diaeresis. This diacritical mark is not typically associated with
English names, but rather with Germanic languages.

However, in the case of the Brontë family, it has a different origin:

The name "Brontë" is of Irish origin. Emily Brontë's father,
Patrick Brontë, was born in Ireland with the surname Brunty or Prunty.
He changed his name to "Brontë" while studying at Cambridge University,
likely to make it sound more sophisticated or to distance himself from
his humble Irish roots.

The diaeresis over the "e" in Brontë was added by Patrick to
indicate that the final "e" should be pronounced as a separate syllable,
rather than being silent as it would typically be in English. This
modification was intended to guide the pronunciation of their surname,
emphasizing its two-syllable nature (BRON-tay).

So, while the umlaut might suggest a Germanic connection, in
this case, it's an affectation added to an Irish surname to influence
its English pronunciation.

__________________________________________
Post by Ross Clark
Post by Ross Clark
Dot Your i's Day (20 December)  ----------- Why this date ?
Crystal saith not.
Historical Context: 　　　　　　　　　　　The phrase "dot your i’s and cross your
t’s" was first used in an article by William Thackeray in 1849. It
originally served as a reminder for schoolchildren to pay attention to
their handwriting, ensuring they completed their work thoroughly.


______________________________________________________________________
________________________________ the dotter of his eyes



Now is it town again, londmear of Dub-
lin! And off coursse the toller, ples the dotter of his eyes with
her: Moke the Wanst, whye doe we aime alike a pose of poeter
peaced? While the dumb he shoots the shopper rope. And they
all pour forth.
Athel Cornish-Bowden
2025-01-03 09:28:28 UTC
Permalink
[ … ]
Post by Ross Clark
Post by HenHanna
"Vitin e ri!" -------- Do lots of Ling-buffs know this lang, or phrase?
I couldn't say. It's Albanian, the first item on the 50-language list.
The meager Albanian language resources within a 1m range of my keyboard
tell me that _vit_ means 'year' and _(i) ri_ means 'new'.
Google Translate recognizes it as Albanian -- pretty good for such a
short piece of text with no give-away letters like ë in it.
Post by Ross Clark
Post by HenHanna
is this Vitin  cognate with French  venir ?
Greek (w)etos 'year'
Sanskrit vatsa- 'calf (yearling)'
tri-vatsa- 'three years old'
Albanian vjet 'year'
and might be connected with Latin vetus 'old'.
Watkins 2000 adds English wether (Germanic *wethruz) and Latin vitulus
'calf, yearling'.
--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly
in England until 1987.
Athel Cornish-Bowden
2025-01-03 18:17:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden
[ … ]
Post by Ross Clark
Post by HenHanna
"Vitin e ri!" -------- Do lots of Ling-buffs know this lang, or phrase?
I couldn't say. It's Albanian, the first item on the 50-language list.
The meager Albanian language resources within a 1m range of my keyboard
tell me that _vit_ means 'year' and _(i) ri_ means 'new'.
Google Translate recognizes it as Albanian -- pretty good for such a
short piece of text with no give-away letters like ë in it.
If your browser didn't display it it properly, the letter is e with a
diaeresis.
Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden
Post by Ross Clark
Post by HenHanna
is this Vitin  cognate with French  venir ?
Greek (w)etos 'year'
Sanskrit vatsa- 'calf (yearling)'
tri-vatsa- 'three years old'
Albanian vjet 'year'
and might be connected with Latin vetus 'old'.
Watkins 2000 adds English wether (Germanic *wethruz) and Latin vitulus
'calf, yearling'.
--
Athel -- French and British, living in Marseilles for 37 years; mainly
in England until 1987.
Ross Clark
2025-01-05 10:35:36 UTC
Permalink
[snip]
Post by Ross Clark
Post by HenHanna
Post by Ross Clark
So Happy A'phabet Day and "Vitin e ri!"
to all at sci.lang.
Ross
"Vitin e ri!" -------- Do lots of Ling-buffs know this lang, or phrase?
I couldn't say. It's Albanian, the first item on the 50-language list.
The meager Albanian language resources within a 1m range of my keyboard
tell me that _vit_ means 'year' and _(i) ri_ means 'new'.
Post by HenHanna
is this Vitin  cognate with French  venir ?
    Greek (w)etos  'year'
    Sanskrit vatsa-  'calf (yearling)'
        tri-vatsa-  'three years old'
    Albanian vjet  'year'
and might be connected with Latin vetus 'old'.
Watkins 2000 adds English wether  (Germanic *wethruz) and Latin vitulus
'calf, yearling'.
The -in is apparently accusative, so it's just "new year" (object), with
no "happy".
It might be like the Russian С новым годом! which is supposed to be a
reduction of a longer phrase, something like "[I greet you] with the new
year!".

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