12.3128, Qs: Data Base/First Use of Word, "decide/cut"

[LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List:  Vol-12-3128. Tue Dec 18 2001. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 12.3128, Qs: Data Base/First Use of Word, "decide/cut"

Moderators: Anthony Aristar, Wayne State U.<aristar at linguistlist.org>
            Helen Dry, Eastern Michigan U. <hdry at linguistlist.org>
            Andrew Carnie, U. of Arizona <carnie at linguistlist.org>

Reviews (reviews at linguistlist.org):
	Simin Karimi, U. of Arizona
	Terence Langendoen, U. of Arizona

Editors (linguist at linguistlist.org):
	Karen Milligan, WSU 		Naomi Ogasawara, EMU
	Jody Huellmantel, WSU		James Yuells, WSU
	Michael Appleby, EMU		Marie Klopfenstein, WSU
	Ljuba Veselinova, Stockholm U.	Heather Taylor-Loring, EMU
	Dina Kapetangianni, EMU		Richard Harvey, EMU
	Karolina Owczarzak, EMU		Renee Galvis, WSU

Software: John Remmers, E. Michigan U. <remmers at emunix.emich.edu>
          Gayathri Sriram, E. Michigan U. <gayatri at linguistlist.org>

Home Page:  http://linguistlist.org/

The LINGUIST List is funded by Eastern Michigan University, Wayne
State University, and donations from subscribers and publishers.



Editor for this issue: Karen Milligan <karen at linguistlist.org>
 ==========================================================================

We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually
best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is
then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was
instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we
would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate.

In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it
is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have
taken the trouble to respond to the query.


=================================Directory=================================

1)
Date:  Mon, 17 Dec 2001 11:06:47 +1300
From:  Jackie Waylen <j.waylen at libr.canterbury.ac.nz>
Subject:  Help Needed tracing first use of a word

2)
Date:  Mon, 17 Dec 2001 16:59:39 +0000
From:  Guy Deutscher <gd116 at hermes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject:  'decide' from 'cut'

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 17 Dec 2001 11:06:47 +1300
From:  Jackie Waylen <j.waylen at libr.canterbury.ac.nz>
Subject:  Help Needed tracing first use of a word

Dear List

We have a user who is looking for a database on the web which has all
of the poetry and prose from as far back as there are records.  She
has been told that on this website, you can type in a word and it
retrieves every instance of the use of that word.  The word she is
currently researching is "priorities". The earliest use of the word I
have been able to find is on a full-text CD-ROM, English Verse Drama
(Chadwyck-Healy Ltd).  There is one instance of it being used in an
anonymous play, published in 1659.

I would be very grateful if anyone can tell me of any full-text
database which helps to trace particular uses and dates of a word.
The Oxford English Dictionary does not give priorities (in the plural
form) as a head word.

Many thanks

Jackie Waylen
Music & Languages Librarian
Information Services
Central Library            Fax 03-364 2055
University of Canterbury         ext 8751



-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 17 Dec 2001 16:59:39 +0000
From:  Guy Deutscher <gd116 at hermes.cam.ac.uk>
Subject:  'decide' from 'cut'

Dear Linguists,

I am trying to gather examples of languages in which the verb 'decide'
originates from a verb like 'cut', 'cut off', 'separate', or something
similar. I have a few examples already (including, of course, English
'decide' from Latin 'decidere': 'cut off'), but would be very grateful to
find out about as many languages as possible.

Many thanks,
Guy Deutscher.

St John's College
Cambridge CB2 1TP			
England

Email: gd116 at cam.ac.uk

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-12-3128