Hawaiian <meli>

[Larry Trask]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
On Thu, 5 Nov 1998, Ross Clark wrote:
 
> Who can say what is impossible? What is very unlikely is that the
> Hawaiians had a word for honey 200 years ago, since there were no
> honey-bees in Polynesia. The Hawaiian word is in fact a 19th-century
> loanword from Greek, thanks to classically-educated missionaries who
> needed it to translate the Bible.
 
Nice one!  I didn't know that, even after watching about 700 David
Attenborough programs on TV.  A pity, though, since it ruins one of my
favorite examples of chance resemblance.  But at least it becomes a
particularly interesting example of borrowing.
 
Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK
 
larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk