Re: [tied] Metathetic Power

Of course the fact that we have a full chain of historically attested forms from OE <hlæfdige> via ME <hlavedi3e>, <lhavedie>, <lavedi> down to <lady>, with all the intermediate links accounted for by English sound changes, means nothing to Mr Cohen. Nor does it matter, I suppose, that the word for "lord" is a parallel compound derived from hla:f + weard 'bread-guardian' via froms such as <hlaford>, <hlaferd>, <lhoverd>, <loverd>, <lord>. I promised some time ago not to react to IC's postings, but I'll break my word just this once to share the following suspicion with you: I don't believe Israel Cohen is the person he purports to be. To suppose he is would be too simple, too unmetathetic. It would be somewhere on a continuum between ridiculous and ludicrous. Just take the letters of his name, jumble them up and see how many other people he may plausibly be (I will include the vowels to make the process more constrained):

Ariel Schoen
Aron Schiele
Enoch Sailer
Ilona Escher
Sheila Crone
Rachele Sion
Nicholas Ree
Nicole Asher
Orin Chelsea
Charlie Enos
Sonia Cherel
Lance Hosier
Solace Rhine
Sloane Reich
Archie Olsen
Colin Hearse
Carlos Heine
Helena Risco
Ines Laroche
Helios Crane
Sir Alec Hone
Sir Noah Clee
Alice S. Horne

Cabalistically yours,

Piotr

----- Original Message -----
From: Cohen, Izzy

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2001 7:47 AM

Subject: [tied] mother vs lady

Piotr wrote: > given the unclear etymology of both words and the different > though relatable senses "mother" and "lady". Only non-Germanic > cognates could help us here. Any ideas, anybody? I've always thought the standard derivation of "lady" to be somewhere on a continuum between ridiculous and ludicrous. lady [bef. 900; ME ladi(e), earlier lavedi, OE hlæfdige, hlæfdige, perh. orig. meaning "loaf-kneader" = hlaf LOAF 1 + -dige, -dige, var. of dæge = kneader (see DOUGH; cf. ON deigja = maid)] I would relate "lady" to Semitic lamed-dalet-heh La:DaH = birth, childbirth. In this sense, a lady is a woman who has previously given birth. So she is usually a mother. For the semantic sense, compare -parous [< L -parus = bearing, der. of parere = to bear, bring forth; see - OUS]. She has carried/delivered a "load". Now she is a lady. The child she bore is called a YeLeD [in Hebrew]. child [bef. 950; ME; OE cild; akin to Go kilthai = womb] Israel "izzy" Cohen izzy_cohen@...