Interesting Etymologies: Part 2

Interesting etymologies: part 2

Some words in different languages beginning with al- which are borrowings from Arabic (e.g. alcohol, algebra, alchemy, algorithm) are actually the result of reanalysis.

In this case, al is originally an article in Arabic, preceding the word itself (so e.g.  al  + kuḥl → alcohol,  al + jabr → algebra), but it was reanalysed as one word in the process of borrowing.

The word algorithm comes from al Ḵwārizmī, a name of a Persian mathematician.

In the case of admiral, the original boundary was between the word and the article following it, i.e.  amīr + al, because it was a military title often followed by another noun (‘commander of + noun’). The reanalysis was also influenced by the Latin suffix -alis. (This is, however, only a theory “not borne out by the textual evidence in either Arabic or the Western languages”, according to the OED.)

Josef Hiršal & Bohumila Grögerová: JOB-BOJ (1968) Setiny: exhibition of Bohumila Grögerová’s poetry at Hvězda, Prague (17. 6. – 7. 11. 2021)

Jan Skácel: Podobný sýkorkám; čtyřverší XVIII

Lubomír Typlt: Studna | Well Nadějné vyhlídky | Great Expectations: exhibition at DOX, Prague (10. 11. 2021 – 24. 4. 2022)

Daniel Pitín: Soumrak v lese | Twilight in the Forest Inkorporace: exhibition in Vyšehrad Gallery, Prague (2. 9. - 3. 10. 2021)