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Re: JF's reply to BB on azure (and blue birds and butterflies)]
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Note to Jansy: if our Russian speakers tell us the etymology of
/lazur'/, I'll bet the /l/ is not from Persian but the French
definite article.
Dear Jerry,
You are mistaken. Most foreign words came to us via Germany, and so did lazur', or its near-homonym, glazur' (glaze, in ceramics). Both of these Russian words derive from the German "Lasur." They merely changed gender (masc. to fem.) in the process of Russification.
In the English word, which comes from Persian through Arabic al lazuwar(d), the initial l was lost together with the article (says my dictionary, the Random House Webster).
best,
Alexey
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/lazur'/, I'll bet the /l/ is not from Persian but the French
definite article.
Dear Jerry,
You are mistaken. Most foreign words came to us via Germany, and so did lazur', or its near-homonym, glazur' (glaze, in ceramics). Both of these Russian words derive from the German "Lasur." They merely changed gender (masc. to fem.) in the process of Russification.
In the English word, which comes from Persian through Arabic al lazuwar(d), the initial l was lost together with the article (says my dictionary, the Random House Webster).
best,
Alexey
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm