*sighs*

[conuly]

I know some people like to say "womyn" instead of woman. I know WHY they do this too, and I won't say anything, even though I think it's stupid. But to defend your use of woman by saying it's a man with a womb... that's ignorance.

Man: Original meaning? Human. Germanic word
Woman: Original form? Wif-man, or "woman human".
Werman: Meaning? Man human (think werewolf).
Human: From Latin humanus, cognate with homo (not the homo in homosexual, the one in homo sapiens)

Note that the "wo" in woman is the same root as the "wife" in wife.

Wife: Akin to OHG wIb, wife.
Womb: Akin to OHG wamba, belly.

As you can see, woman has NOTHING TO DO with womb-man. So please don't spread that around, especially when a few minutes with a dictionary can dispell any such silly notion.

Comments

[conuly]

What's confusing? Wife is a cognate with the Old High German word for wife (which was wIb). Womb is a cognate with the Old High German word for belly (which was wamba).

I'm no linguist!

[neurotica0.livejournal.com]

OHG confused me and wlb (which seemed like another acronym.)
I understand now.
Thanks for the clarification.

Re: I'm no linguist!

[conuly]

No problem. The wIb is because the I indicates a sound separate from i. English doesn't have enough letters :(

Re: I'm no linguist!

[xiggaroo.livejournal.com]

I say we go German and start using ümläüts!

On a related note, you ever had Kase Spätzle?

Re: I'm no linguist!

[marveen.livejournal.com]

Mmmm....spaetzle with butter and cheese...