Word of the Day
rhotacize
verb (used with object)
to change a sound to an r.
More about rhotacize
Rhotacize, “to change a sound to an r,” is the verb form of rhotacism and is based on the Greek letter rho, on the pattern of iotacism. Similar to the recent Word of the Day muon, Ancient Greek rhô comes from Phoenician rōš, “head,” a cognate of the Hebrew letter rēsh. Phoenician rōš has relatives in several Afro-Asiatic languages, including Amharic ras, as in Rastafarian; Hebrew rōsh, as in Rosh Hashanah; and Arabic ra’s, as in Ra’s al Ghul, a comic supervillain whose name translates as “Head of the Demon.” All Ancient Greek words containing rho are transcribed in English with -rh- because the Greeks once pronounced the “ruh” sound with a “huh”-like breathiness called aspiration. Rhotacize was first recorded in English in the early 1960s.
EXAMPLE OF RHOTACIZE USED IN A SENTENCE
English speakers have permanently rhotacized many s and z sounds over the past 2,000 years, with ancient Germanic auso, haso, and wēz– becoming modern English ear, hare, and were.
bazaar
noun
a marketplace or shopping quarter, especially one in the Middle East.
More about bazaar
Bazaar, “a marketplace,” comes via Italian bazarro from Persian bāzār, “market.” The bā- part of this term (earlier wā-, vaha-) likely comes from a root meaning “to buy, sell” and is a distant relative of Latin venum, “for sale” (compare venal and vendor), while the -zār element (earlier -carana) may come from the same movement-related root as found in chakra (from Sanskrit), cycle (from Ancient Greek), and wheel (from Old English). Take care not to confuse bazaar with bizarre, “unusual, odd,” from Italian bizzarro, “quick to anger,” of uncertain origin. Bazaar was first recorded in English in the 1590s.
EXAMPLE OF BAZAAR USED IN A SENTENCE
Merchants came from far and wide, trekking miles across the mountains and deserts, to sell their wares at the bazaar.
Samhain
noun
a festival of the ancient Celts, held around November 1 to celebrate the beginning of winter.
More about Samhain
Samhain, “an ancient Celtic winter festival,” is a borrowing from Irish Gaelic. In Irish Gaelic, the consonant pair mh is often pronounced as “oo” or “wuh,” which is why the standard English pronunciation of Samhain is “sah-win”—and, unlike what certain supernatural-themed TV series have claimed, is not “sam-heyn.” Samhain comes from Old Irish samain, which some linguists have proposed is a distant relative of English summer. Though it may be folk etymology, a similar proposal is that samain comprises Old Irish sam, “summer” (compare modern Irish Gaelic samhradh), and perhaps fuin, “setting, end.” Perhaps instead of a summery connection, samain comes from a root meaning “together” or, by extension, “assembly, gathering.” Samhain was first recorded in English in the late 1880s.
EXAMPLE OF SAMHAIN USED IN A SENTENCE
As the nights grew longer and chillier in Ireland, though snow had yet to fall, the winter festival Samhain was fast approaching.