a whole lot of words from *dyeu-

Greek has Ζεὺς πατήρ Zeus patēr, Sanskrit has द्यौष्पितृ dyauṣ-pitṛ, and Latin has Jupiter from Iouis + pater. The first element of all three of these can be derived from Proto-Indo-European *dyeu- "to shine and (in many derivatives "sky, heaven, god")". The second element is from *ph₂ter- "father". So these three deities presumably come from a form meaning "sky-father".

*dyeu- is also apparently found in Armenian աստված astvaç "god", usually written Astwatz. I'm not sure exactly what the etymology is here.

In English *dyeu- became the name of the god Tīw as in Tuesday.

*dyeu- is also the source of Latin deus and dīuus as in deity and divine, and Avestan daēuau- "spirit, demon" as in Asmodeus.

It's also the source of Sanskrit देव deva "heavenly, divine", and Hindi देवदार devdār "divine tree", whence deodar.

It's also the source of Latin Diāna, the moon goddess.

In Celtic it became Gaulish Dēvona and Welsh duw "god".

In Greek it became δηλος "clear" (from earlier *deyalos) - as in psychedelic.

fir and cork

The Proto-Indo-European root *perkʷu- "oak" in the zero-grade form *pr̥kʷ- became Proto-Germanic *furh-jōn- then English fir (either directly or borrowed from the Old Norse fyri-).

The form *kʷerkʷu- arose by assimilating the first consonant to the second. This became Latin quercus "oak", which was probably borrowed into Arabic as القورق al-qūrq, then borrowed into Spanish as alcorque "cork shoe", then into Dutch or Low German as kork, then into English as cork.

native English epicene pronouns

There have been many attempts to introduce a gender-neutral pronoun into English. I can't see the point; we already have one that serves the purpose: they. Anyway, one of the suggestions is Middle English ou.

But did this Middle English epicene pronoun ou really exist?

Dennis Baron, in Grammar and Gender (1986), page 197, says

In 1789, William H. Marshall records the existence of a dialectal English epicene pronoun, singular ou: "'Ou will' expresses either he will, she will, or it will." Marshall traces ou to Middle English epicene a, used by the 14th century English writer John of Trevisa, and both the OED and Wright's English Dialect Dictionary confirm the use of a for he, she, it, they, and even I.

William Marshall, in Provincialisms of the vale of Gloucester, writes:

Beside these and various other misapplications (as they for them - I for me, &c.), an extra pronoun is here in use - ou : a pronoun of the singular number; - analogous with the plural they ; - being applied either in a masculine, a feminine, or a neuter sense. Thus "ou will" expresses either he will, she will, or it will.

So there is an epicene pronoun ou, but it's not Middle English; it's part of the Gloucester dialect. It derives from Middle English a, which in turn derives from Old English he "he" and heo "she". Baron goes on to say that by the 12th and 13th centuries, he and heo were "almost or wholly indistinguishable in pronunciation" (he is quoting the OED's etymological entry for she). It is for this reason that she appeared: in order to distinguish the masculine and feminine third person pronouns.

So was Middle English a really an epicene pronoun? Well, we have examples of it from Trevisa standing for both "he" and "she", as in these cites from the OED:

1387 J. Trevisa MS. Cott. Vesp. D. vii. 29 b, He ran home to uore & prayede hys wyf þat hue wolde helpe for to saue hym,‥bote a dude þe contrary.
- from the OED's entry heo ε. ME ha, a.

"He ran home in advance and prayed that his wife would help save him… but she did the opposite."

c1400 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (Tiber. D. vii) vi. xxix, in R. Morris & W. W. Skeat Specim. Early Eng. (1884) II. 243 Kynge Edward hadde byhote duc William þat a [a1387 St. John's Cambr. he] scholde be kynge after hym ef he dyede wyþoute chyldern.
- from the OED's entry he ζ. ME e, ME–18 (dial.) a.

"King Edward had promised duke William that he should be king after him if he died without children."

It's in Shakespeare too. Here Hamlet is talking about Polonius.

1604 Shakespeare Hamlet iii. iii. 73 Now might I doe it, but now a is a praying, And now Ile doo't, and so a goes to heauen.

Modern versions have

Now might I do it pat, now he is praying;
And now I'll do't. And so he goes to heaven;

But there seems to be a difference between a and singular they. In the examples above, the antecedents have known genders. Singular they is usually not used when the gender of the antecedent is known. What I'd like to know is: can Middle English a (or Gloucester ou) be used when the gender of the antecedent is unknown or irrelevant?

Consider these sentences with they/their:

Everyone loves their mothers, but they don't care for their fathers.
Do not speak to the driver or distract their attention without good cause.

Can Middle English a or Gloucester ou be used in this way?

yeast and eczema

yeast is from Old English ġist from Proto-Germanic *jest- from Proto-Indo-European *yes- "to boil, bubble".

*yes- became Greek ζέω (zeō) "ferment, boil, bubble". Combined with ἐκ "out" gave ἐκζέω (ekzeō) "boil out or over, break out (in disease)" and ἔκζεμα (ekzema) "a cutaneous eruption, eczema".

khapra and phthisis

This is a khapra beetle.

The name is from Hindi खप्रा khaprā "destroyer" from खपना khapanā "to destroy". This is cognate with Sanskrit क्षापयति kṣāpayati, the causative of kṣiyate "to destroy". This is from Proto-Indo-European *dhgʷhi-yo-, the zero-grade suffixed form of *dhgʷhei- "to perish, destroy".

The zero-grade suffixed form *dhgʷhi-n-wo- became Greek φθίνειν "to decay" and φθίσις "wasting, consumption", borrowed as phthisis, an older word for tuberculosis.

*dhgʷhei- is found in the famous phrase *k̂leu̯os n̥dhgʷhitom, which some claim is an example of a reconstructed PIE phrase.

ciao and slave

Who knew that Italian ciao was a variation of schiavo "(I am your) servant" from medieval Latin sclavus "slave".

slave was borrowed from Old French esclave, which is related to the Latin sclavus. The Latin word was borrowed into English as Slav.

Further etymology of sclavus is uncertain. In my previous post I write that Slav and slave seem to be derived from Proto-Slavic *slovo "word" or *slava "fame, glory" but I think I was wrong. The OED says Old Slavic Slovēne is supposed to be derived from slovo, but is it really? The whole thing is a bit of a muddle.

etiquette and stigma

Proto-Indo-European *steig- "to stick" became Proto-Germanic *stikkēn "to be stuck" (AHD) and Old Low German stekan. This was borrowed into Old French as estiquer "to stick, fix", becoming estiquette then etiquet, borrowed into English as ticket. The French word was for ‘a little note, breuiate, bill, or ticket; especially such a one, as is stucke vp on the gate of a Court, signifying the seisure &c of an inheritance by order of iustice’ (Cotgrave).

The same Old French estiquette is also the source of English etiquette, which was first used to mean "The prescribed ceremonial of a court; the formalities required by usage in diplomatic intercourse." The semantic shift from "ticket, label" to "prescribed routine" presents no difficulty, the OED tells us.

In Greek the suffixed from *stig-yo- became στίζω stizō "to prick, puncture", and στίγμα stigma "mark".

*steig- is also found in raita and possibly tiger.