[Ads-l] kapos and capos

[Laurence Horn]

But despite the cognacy, a capo collar is not for kapos...
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/movies/irishman-costumes.html

====================================
It's the word for 'head' in Italian first (Latin caput), then
metaphorically 'boss' etc.  By most evidence, Latin letter c was pronounced
[k].  The German is Kopf; cognate or, less plausibly, borrowing.

----------------------------
MARGARET E WINTERS
Former Provost
Professor Emerita - French and Linguistics
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI  48202

mewinters at wayne.edu


________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Andy
Bach <afbach at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Monday, December 9, 2019 11:03 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: kapo

As it appears the 'k for c' swap is fairly common [1], isn't "capo" Italian
for boss/head Mafioso?

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org