Random thoughts about pronouns
Just some disorganized thoughts about pronouns that I'd like to share for no reason.
The reflexive pronouns “se” in Latin and Spanish, “self” in English, “sich” in German, “sik” in Old Norse, all come from the original Indo-European root “se”.
“To bath oneself” in Old Norse had a construction with reflexive pronoun (“sik”) parallel of that in Spanish bañar + se = bañarse: baða + sik (bath oneself) = baðask, from where the modern English word “bask” come from (literally, to bath oneself in sunshine). Another originally reflexive verb is busk, from Old Norse bua + sik (prepare oneself) = buask.
Let’s look at “gustar” in Middle English: "þ?os giefu is for ?s, and h?os l?caþ us" (The gift is for us, and it pleases us). Notice that 'giefu' is a feminine word (yes, English had genders), and " l?caþ us" is "nos gusta" (well... "gusta nos").
There is an anonymous Middle English poems that says “Me reweth , Marie, thi faire rode”, which appears to literally mean “To me saddens, Marie, your lovely face” (modern translation: “I rue…”). Confer the Spanish “Me apena, María, tu precioso rostro”. Influence of Latin, perhaps? Check this line from Chaucer (2nd half of the 14th): “Me lakketh but my deth and then my bere”. What is that “me lakketh”? Easy: “me falta” in Spanish (literally: “to me, it is missing…”) These constructions had almost disappeared in Middle English, but they were more common in Old English.
Do you found it strange that in Spain you say “Nevó” (it snowed”) without a subject, like “it” in English? Look how it was said in Middle English (up to the end of the 15th century): “Sniwde”. Yes, like in Spanish, no “it”!
13 Answers
I was afraid I was going to be regarded as an "outcast" for bringing up such weird ideas. I am happy that at least a few people got something out of it, like I did when I learnt these things (which I just began to learn). I welcome suggestions, corrections and other comments. It is rare to find people who find this "useless" stuff as fascinating as I do.
Conversely, the French word for winter "hiver" comes directly from Latin (where we get "hibernate") while Spanish uses invierno to describe what I'm guessing is the concept of a "non green season". (Maybe you can enlighten me if I'm mistakened on this and tell me if there might be a relation between the OE "winter" and "invierno." Then I point out how "Ojala" is borrowed directly from Arabic, (I believe it comes from the phrase meaning "Allah willing.")
"Hiver" and "hibernate" (English) come from the theoretical Indo-European root "ghei-" (meaning winter), through Latin "hiemal", from where "invierno" comes from too (remember that the H is not pronounced). Even "chimera" in English ("quimera" in Spanish) is meant to be either a one year (one winter) creature, or a winter creature.
The English "winter" is more likely to come from the Indo-European "w*d" (wet), or wind, or white.
And yes, "ojalá" means "Allah willing" in Arabic.
Thank you Lazarus, again.
What you have written shows the logical beauty of languages that we, as speakers, tend to ignore.
I wonder how many years, approximatelly, we would have to travel back in time until our own language sounded foreign to us. I think if I travelled 500 years back I already wouldn't understand to people speaking Middle Spanish.
Reading it is really hard for me, not only for the vocabulary, that looks like a conundrum, but even more for how the words were used, and I suppose that pronunciation would probably sound very different too.
Do you think you'd understand Middle English speakers?
I studied Chaucer in college. We read many of the Canterbury tales in Middle English and let me tell you, there was no dictionary to go to in order to help us figure out the meanings.
Once you get into it, you can understand a lot. I wouldn't believe if if I hadn't had to wrestle that beast.
One of the things we learned is that Chaucer had a day job in the English bureaucracy, but entertained the court with his verse. At that time, we were taught, the court spoke French, and you can see the influence of the French on the language of the day. This, I think, is the Latin connection to English. Of course, there is also plenty of German influence on English, too.
Lazarus, thanks for this lesson. I find this very fascinating.
Thank you for sharing this 'weird' and 'useless' information. I enjoyed reading it,
I can only second this, I am in awe.
Thank you for sharing this 'weird' and 'useless' information. I enjoyed reading it, so much so that I told my wife, "hey, listen to this".
You should think about qutting your day job and becoming a linguist. That's one of the reason why Old English is hardly recgonizable to modern English speakers.
Do you found it strange that in Spain you say “Nevó” (it snowed”) without a subject, like “it” in English? Look how it was said in Middle English (up to the end of the 15th century): “Sniwde”. Yes, like in Spanish, no “it”!
This may or may not be a holdover from it's Anglo Saxon (Old English) roots. Verbs of this linguistic tradition typically showed a relatively higher level of inflection that gradually eroded as the language evolved. As a result, in the case of verbs describing temporal and weather conditions or in contextually rich situations, it was not altogether unknown for authors to omit the subject. However, this was generally the exception and not the rule, a typical idiom in such cases being:
hit sniwþ ? it snoweth ? It's snowing
Unfortunately, it's not possible to say with certainty whether this was in fact due to the degree of inflection exhibited by the verb or whether it was due to the overall context in which the verb appeared or even the poetic effect such an omission may have had. Consider the following two cases, scribed at least half a millennium apart.
The Seafarer (c. 600 – 900)
Nap nihtscua, norþan sniwde
Dark grew night's shadow (cover), from the north (it) snowed
?The shadow of night darkened, snow fell from the north.
Hamlet ACT III, Scene i (c. 1602)
Nor do we find him forward to be sounded, but with a crafty madness (he) keeps aloof.
In each case, the verb goes unaccompanied by an explicit subject pronoun, yet it is clear, at least from the latter case, that this was likely done for poetic reasons. Even so, it does not take away from the fact that in both cases, the verb being employed demonstrates a degree of inflection, without which, such an omission wouldn't be possible.
I couldn't agree more both with jack-OBrien and Heidita (and all the others). Amazing!
Please Lazarus, whenever you are in the mood post more of these 'weird' ideas of yours! They are fascinating!
By the way I didn't know the Latin word "hiemal" for winter and it stunned me.
In ancient Greek as in modern the word for winder is "himonas" with the 'h' in front pronounced hard.
Great thread Lazarus. Thanks again!
Cool! I used one of these vestiges on my wedding day with realizing it (as most of us do): "With this ring, I thee wed."
Even going back to Shakespeare's time makes English easier to "transcribe" into Spanish.
All very interesting.
Lazarus, you would make Ol' Professor Tolkien proud! I haven't read anything this interesting about languages since the LOTR appendix on the languages of Middle Earth. I help my son with his high school Spanish and can speak some French. I had taken Latin in high school myself back 35 years ago. I like to point out to him how Spanish takes some words directly from Latin like Siempre for Semper while French uses "toujours" for the same concept. Conversely, the French word for winter "hiver" comes directly from Latin (where we get "hibernate") while Spanish uses invierno to describe what I'm guessing is the concept of a "non green season". (Maybe you can enlighten me if I'm mistakened on this and tell me if there might be a relation between the OE "winter" and "invierno." Then I point out how "Ojala" is borrowed directly from Arabic, (I believe it comes from the phrase meaning "Allah willing.")
Anyways, all this pales next to your expertise and I look forward to reading any further offerings you might like to share.
It's the little things that I enjoy. Although this is a hefty amount of information, I find myself drawn to it. Nice post Lazarus!! Thanks for sharing. 
