[Lexicog] semantic extension

[Fritz Goerling]

Right, John,

Similar development in the following languages:

French: bourse (wallet; small bag for money) >> bourse (stock market)
Dutch: beurs (wallet: old word) >> beurs (stock market)
Contemporary German:  Borse (stock market)

All coming from Latin "bursa" (small bag for coins) originally

But "you can't make a purse out of a sow's ear" (English proverb). ;-)


Fritz Goerling



  On Wed, 19 May 2004, Wayne Leman wrote:
  > Yesterday I learned that the Cheyenne word for purse has been
semantically
  > extended to mean 'budget.' Interesting!

  John Koontz wrote:

  This is basically the extension behind forms like borse or bursar(y) and,
  of course, expressions like "the communal purse."  I think the forms
  involved originally meant 'bag'.









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