Talk:palus

So ... does that mean the English word has one etymology or two? -- Visviva 13:32, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


 * It certainly looks it. I had meant to confirm that in MW3. Thanks for the reminder. Well, my '93 edition of MW3 doesn't have the astronomical meaning. The other meaning they show as from the same etymon as pale. Specialist astronomy dictionaries confirm the "swamp" derivation, hardly surprising given the use of mare and lacus as well. So, yes, indeed. Good catch. DCDuring TALK 15:51, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Translingual?
Are one or both of these Translingual instead of English? DCDuring TALK 16:11, 23 March 2008 (UTC)
 * No, I shouldn't think so. Not the way we usually mean "Translingual".  To be translingual, not only the word itself, but its inflections (such as the plural) and grammar would have to be the same.  --EncycloPetey 16:14, 23 March 2008 (UTC)


 * I don't understand the 3rd sentence above. The same as what? how?
 * Both of these words form their plurals following the Latin, albeit differently. They seem only to be used in the scientific communities (pros and amateurs). DCDuring TALK 16:29, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Latin etymology
It seems, that Latin palus can't be derived from the Greek πηλος, because it's stem is the "palud", not the "pal" (Greek stem has no "d"). What is the source of this etymology? It is possible that *pal-ud-s has relation to Slavic *pola voda, "high water", literally "wide water" (the hypothesis was published in Russian: О. Н. Трубачев. Несколько древних латинско-славянских параллелей // Этимология 1973. М., 1975.). I am not a professional linguist, and provide it "as is".