37.1801, Qs: Borrowing of Words for the Sun or the Moon

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-37-1801. Mon May 18 2026. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 37.1801, Qs: Borrowing of Words for the Sun or the Moon

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Date: 18-May-2026
From: Alexis Manaster Ramer [manasterramer at gmail.com]
Subject: Borrowing of Words for the Sun or the Moon


In such literature as I am able to search (as well as what I can find
via Internet searches) such borrowings seem to be very rarely
reported. I do not assume that this necessarily is representative
because it seems to me that one cannot easily get info on MOST
languages this way (which is a very general problem).  The one example
that seems solid of a total replacement of the native word by a
borrowed one that I have is Island Carib.  Japanese, Korean, and
Balinese are reliably documented as having both a native and a foreign
(Chinese or Sanskrit) word so there is not a total replacement--and
the info on when the borrowed word is actually used seems a bit thin
(and confused by attempts, no doubt well-intentioned but really
unhelpful, to find some general principle such as the claim that in
Japanese the native word is used when the sun is seen as relevant to
human life, which if true would mean that the borrowed word would not
be used at all, if you think what that actually is saying).  Any help
would be most appreciated--and will be acknowledged in print likely
before the end of this year.

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics
                     Lexicography
                     Pragmatics
                     Semantics

Subject Language(s): Balinese (ban)
                     Island Carib (crb)
                     Japanese (jpn)
                     Korean (kor)




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