Talk:skalian

Etymology

 * Is the etymology of this word known? It would make for a rather interesting FWOTD. ←₰-→ Lingo Bingo Dingo (talk)  21:07, 4 January 2023 (UTC)


 * Drew a blank there unfortunately. It's sometimes perceived as an English loanword, seemingly mostly by foreign researchers (prompting the spelling scalian) but I couldn't find evidence of a corresponding English term or for instance a manufacturer's brand name. If I'm not mistaken, most of present-day skalians are custom-made anyway. A link to a contracted form of Javanese seems unlikely to me. Appolodorus1 (talk) 09:57, 5 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Thanks. I did not find anything useful on SIL or Delpher either. It seems there are no obvious candidates then. Perhaps has any ideas. Wouldn't one expect a more English pronunciation (initial stress,  in the first syllable) for a loanword or does that work differently in Surinamese Dutch? And do you think a link to Latinate *scal-* "climbing, scaling" is possible? I do not think that a dredge looks like a scaling ladder, but perhaps (???) it could be linked to aerial device. ←₰-→  Lingo Bingo Dingo (talk)  12:28, 6 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The spelling scalian is also found in some Dutch texts. Note the plural scaliantes, also seen here and heard here at 0:13. If most people got introduced to the term by reading about it, that would very likely introduce a spelling pronunciation. Perhaps the etymon is not English; there is also a French company that goes by that name. The term was probably not used before the new gold rush that started in the early nineties. While dredging for gold is going on elsewhere, I cannot find the term used in that context elsewhere. Given how specialized its use is – a specific type of gold dredge on rivers of Suriname – it seems impervious to a meaning-based morphological analysis. --Lambiam 14:41, 6 January 2023 (UTC)
 * The form scaliantes almost seems to point to Brazilian Portuguese – it would fit as a lot of Brazilian migrants are employed in the gold sector in Suriname. Still, I couldn't find anything down the (e)scaleante(s) route, except for family names. I agree the term is probably very recent. I'm asking around to get in touch with some veteran from the natural resources sector who might give us a clue. Appolodorus1 (talk) 18:01, 8 January 2023 (UTC)