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Essorant Member Elite
since 2002-08-10
Posts 4769Regina, Saskatchewan; Canada |
How come we say Humans instead of Humen? |
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Ron
Administrator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-05-19
Posts 8669Michigan, US |
For the same reason we don't say mentra when we mean mantras. from dictionary.com: man [Middle English, from Old English mann] The etymology of human, on the other hand, can be traced back to Old French humain and Latin humanus, which are both ultimately derived from the Latin root humus, a word literally translated as "earth." A human, therefore, was "of the earth," as opposed to the gods of the heavens. Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, the Latin humus is also the root for our English word, "humble." ![]() Tracing the origins of words can be fun, but as in most things, we should avoid making hasty assumptions. The her in Hercules didn't make him a woman, the his in history has nothing to do with gender, and the man in mantra relates not to humanity, but rather to God, in its Hindu roots. |
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Essorant Member Elite
since 2002-08-10
Posts 4769Regina, Saskatchewan; Canada |
That is interesting. I don't know much about latin or french. But I may usually trace words that are derived from the ancestral forms of english itself. In old english the form of "guma" in acc/gen/dat sing and nom/acc/ plural are guman which sort of sounds like "human" but meant man, and often "warrior" Usually I just thought of "human" as being something toward "homo (sapiens) + man") which therefore made me wonder why not "humen" ![]() Thank you for clear that up for me and perhaps some others out there too ![]() [This message has been edited by Essorant (11-09-2003 02:16 PM).] |
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