That Metafilter link was great! Quite a discussion. On a different note, even further removed from gnomonics, I was struck by a similar word coincidence.
In Russian, "One" is "odin" (uhdeen) The Norse shamanic god, Odin, was typically depicted with one eye. Dave _____ From: sundial [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Hank de Wit Sent: Thursday, November 13, 2014 10:43 PM To: Jos Kint; [email protected] Subject: RE: huit nuits [SEC=UNOFFICIAL] Hi Jos, Your interesting question has been asked on the Internet before: http://ask.metafilter.com/108865/eight-night-ocho-noche-huit-nuit-acht-nacht -otto-notte-oito-noite It appears (from the above link) that there is no link, apart from the fact that all these languages are related and the two words coincidentally sounded similar in the root Indo-European language. As the languages diverged through sound shifts, both (similar sounding) words changed in similar ways. No interesting time related factors at all. Hank, Adelaide, Australia From: sundial [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jos Kint Sent: Wednesday, 12 November 2014 6:38 AM To: [email protected] Subject: huit nuits Dear all, What do you think about the following coincidence : Eight verus night in English, huit versus nuit in French, ocho versus noche in Spanish, acht versus nacht in Dutch and in German, otto versus notte in Italian, octa versus noctem in Latin, what might be the reason that in so many languages eight and night sound so similar? Might there be some connection with time keeping in the old days? Jos Kint, Belgium
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