[Lexicog] Etymology of Christmas, Yule, Weihnachten etc.

[David Foris]

In Sochiapan Chinantec (Mexico) the expression for Christmas is literally:
'time pertain-to God little'.  

The word for 'time' can also mean 'day, festival, celebration'. The word for
'pertain-to' is beautifully ambiguous, meaning either 'referring to' or
alternatively, 'belonging to'; i.e. it is either 'the festival about Him' or
'His festival'.  The word 'little' can mean either 'young' or 'small size'.

 

David Foris

 

-----Original Message-----
From: Fritz Goerling [mailto:Fritz_Goerling at sil.org] 
Sent: Monday, 20 December 2004 11:53 a.m.
To: lexicographylist yahoogroups
Subject: [Lexicog] Etymology of Christmas, Yule, Weihnachten etc.

 

>From Fritz Goerling

I am interested in how different languages name "Christmas" and where the
word
comes from. The word Christ comes from Greek xristos, meaning "the anointed
one,
the Lord's Anointed."  The suffix -mas evolved from the Old English word
maesse meaning "festival, feast day or mass."
 

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