LL-L: "Symbols" LOWLANDS-L, 31.JUL.2000 (03) [E]

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From: Henry Pijffers [hpijffers at home.nl]
Subject: LL-L: "Symbols" LOWLANDS-L, 31.JUL.2000 (01) [E]

> From: Edwin Michael Alexander [edsells at idirect.com]
> Subject: LL-L: "Symbols" LOWLANDS-L, 30.JUL.2000 (03) [E]
>
> At 05:07 PM 07/30/00 -0700, Antero Helasvuo wrote:
> >  The Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary gives
> >this ethymology: [1850­55; < Skt svastika, equiv. to su- good, well (c.
Gk
>
> >eu- EU-) + as- be (see IS) + -ti- abstract n. suffix + -ka secondary n.
> >suffix].
>
> With all due respect to Random House, other authorities suggest that it
is
> "sva" (self) + asti (3rd pers sing active of root as, "to be", i.e., "he
> she or it is") + ka (like English "-ness" or HG "-keit").  How to
> translate?  Perhaps "it is itself", i.e. it is complete and whole.
Maybe "self awareness"? Just guessing here...

> "Su", by the way, is clearly not related to Gk "eu" (good).  "Su" is
found in
> many IE languages, as in "su-preme" (the highest first) and French "sous"

> (above).
If I recall my French lessons correctly, "sous" means "below".
As in sousterrain, or is that spelled souterrain?

Henry

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From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Symbols

Another name for "swastika" is "fylfot" or "filfot". Chambers Dictionary
defines "fylfot" as "a swastika, especially one turned counter-clockwise".
What it actually means, of course, is a mirror image of a swastika. (I
repeat my dictum: look it up but don't automatically believe what you
find.)

I believe that the Indian symbol is normally reversed in this way from the
Nazis'. Is this true?

Ed wrote:

>"Su" is found in many IE languages, as in "su-preme" (the highest first)
and French "sous" (above).<

Is this right? Chambers has "supreme" from Latin "supremus", superlative of

"superus", high. The independent Chambers Etymological Dictionary and
Hachette are similar. "-im-" and "-em-" are normal markers of the
superlative in L., cf "maximum", "minimum". So "preme" here has nothing to
do with "primus", "premier", and so on.

Of course, "primus" itself looks like (and is/was?) "pri" + "-imus" - the
"most first".

I think Ed means Fr. "sur". Hachette says this comes from "super/supra",
influenced by "sus" from L. "susum/sursum", "upwards".

John Feather johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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