Dutch: Ape-staartje (monkey tail).
Slightly baffled as to how you got my e-mail, but evenso, this is a nice addition to the j-blogg world.
I think I saw mention of you on one of the regular blogs I visit also.
Anyhow, will revisit. Fascinating stuff.
Grisn,
In rereading, I see that you've already got a monkey's tail.
Note re 'stru-' that it is also the root for Flemish 'stroelen' (the sound of pouring water; to urinate), and of course stream.
Nu, how about zayin-resh-mem, which sounds like serum? See Psalms 77:18 and Isaiah 28:2.
Here's where I saw this blog first mentioned:
http://menachemmendel.blogspot.com/
The stream connection is interesting, but I can't find anything (online) to confirm it. Serum is related to the Sanksrit word "sarati" and stream is related to the word "sravati". They both mean to flow, and certainly look similar. Can you find anything that describes the connection?
In Italian, it is called "snail", or chiocciola or chiocciolina (little snail). :-)
nice blog, very interesting.
Thanks and welcome!
The stream connection is interesting, but I can't find anything (online) to confirm it.
Hello Dave,
I got the stream connection from the Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek by Jan de Vries, published by Brill, fourth edition.
Related thereto, I note that 'straal' (as in a shaft of light, a lightening flash, a cascade of water, a stream of light or liquid, an arrow) derives via old high german and norse from stral, with ablaut strila (to leak, to drip). Probably also ultimately from Indo-European 'ser-'.
As also stripe - originally indicating something having a slick characteristic, as in a slug's trail.
Words like these may also derive from a relative or derivative of 'ser-, namely 'ster-' (to strew, to spread, to flood). The addition of a 't' is a later linguistic developement.
I note further, in relation to 'stroelen', there is also west-Flemish struilen (stream rushingly or loudly), with variants strullen, stroylen, streulen, related to Teutonic streulen (to micturate), and old northern Dutch dialect strollen (also in Schwabian).
In one dialect, struielen was recorded as causing the milk to squirt from the udder.
(I'm afraid I won't be able to follow your blog on a regular basis.)
Shrudel isn't only the nicest of the names for the @ sign, it also led to the nicest name for an internet café in Yerusholayem. (I'm afraid Kafe Shtrudel closed down again, but I'm not sure.)
A tiny correction: 'Strudel' in German doesn't mean whirlpool, but simply swirl, eddy or vortex, though the English word can occasionally mean this as well. The German word 'Whirlpool' is exclusively a whirlpool as in 'Jacuzzi'. And, to complicate things, thanks to dubiously dubbed movies, the word 'jacuzzi' is getting ground, too.
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