cleave (1)
"to split," O.E. cleofan "to split, separate" (class II strong verb, past tense cleaf, past participle clofen), from P.Gmc. *kleubanan, from PIE base *gleubh- "to cut, slice." The old, strong p.t. clave was still alive at the time of the King James Bible; and the p.p. cloven survives, though mostly in compounds. Cleavage in geology is from 1816. The sense of "cleft between a woman's breasts in low-cut clothing" is first recorded 1946, when it was defined in a "Time" magazine article as the "Johnston Office trade term for the shadowed depression dividing an actress' bosom into two distinct sections" [Aug. 5].
cleave (2)
"to adhere," O.E. clifian, from W.Gmc. *klibajanan, from PIE *gloi- "to stick." The confusion was less in O.E. when cleave (1) was a class 2 strong verb and cleave (2) a class 1 verb; but it has grown since cleave (1) weakened, which may be why both are largely superseded by stick and split. Cleaver "butcher's chopper" is from 1483.
Do you know the origins of the word cleave and how it came to have two meanings that are direct opposites?
Indeed we do! That's what we're here for, Chay. These were originally two different words that evolved, perhaps with the influence of one upon the other, so that they have the same spelling but retained their different meanings.
Cleave "split" comes ultimately from Old English cliofan/cleofan. There were cognates in Old Scandinavian, Old High German, and Old Norse. The Old Teutonic root was *kleub-, and we even get a pre-Teutonic root with this one: *gleubh! Both meant "split". The pre-Teutonic root is thought to be the source of Greek gluph- "cut with a knife" and Latin glub- "peel, flay". The Old English inflected forms became cleave, clove and cloven, though cleft appeared in the 14th century and has survived.
Cleave "cling" was clifian/cleofian in Old English. It also had cognates in Old Scandinavian, Old High German, and Old Norse. Its Old Teutonic root is *klibojan, from *kli- "to stick" (source of climb, clay and clam). The Old English forms gave rise to clive (the given name Clive is not related; it comes from Old English clif "cliff") and cleve/cleeve in Middle English, and it was cleeve that survived, and it came to be spelled cleave, perhaps by influence of cleave "split".
Clover the plant is not etymologically related to either of the cleave words, coming instead from an Old English word which simply meant "clover". Clove the spice is the dried flower bud of the clove plant, and it is named clove because the dried bud looks like a nail (Latin clavus). A clove of garlic is, however, related to cleave "split" as it is a part that has split from the main garlic bulb. The Dutch word for garlic is knoflook or, literally, "clove leek".
To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions. -Keen
anniemcu wrote:Though they tried to make the tough trough design work, it never was thoroughly thought through, so it failed.
Though they tried to make the tough trough design work, it never was thoroughly thought through, so they threw it out.
I knew that one was supposed to be in there, but I forgot it by the time I'd put it together. Thanks!
anniemcu
--- "You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
--- "Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
--- http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
Tell us something.: "Tell us something" hits me a bit like someone asking me to tell a joke. I can always think of a hundred of them until someone asks me for one. You know how it is. Right now, I can't think of "something" to tell you. But I have to use at least 100 characters to inform you of that.
Cranberry wrote:English spelling is one of the most difficult kinds of spelling in the world. In all the languages I have studied, English is the hardest. Even in Hebrew, which goes "backwards" and doesn't use vowels, at least you always know what sounds the letters make.
I agree!
I just got hold of a book by Edward Gibbon, The History of the Roman Empire vol. IX, printed 1802! The spelling is almost identical to modern day spelling of english. With the exeption that "s" is spelled with a letter that resembles "f". All modern languages are evolving all the time - pronounciation and semantics are changing. At some point the written language of any language will be a fossilized relic of how the language was once pronounced. I suspect the spelling of english reflects how it was spoken in Shakespeares days?! (or perhapes a little earlier). I know that there has been some experiments with an upgraded version of english spelling (called modern english or something like that). I can tell you - it looks weird! And the drawback with a spelling reform is ofcourse that to a new generation the older litterature will become unreadable. On the other hand to have a written language that relects the pronouciation will make learning easier. Spanish spelling is for instance both very logical, consistent and close to present day pronounciation.
Doucettes. Take Porke & hakke it smal, & Eyroun y-mellyd to-gederys, & a lytel Milke, & melle hem to-gederys with Hony & Pepir, & bake hem in a cofyn, & serue forth.
Euerybodye stoppe complaynynge. Richt nowe.
"If you take music out of this world, you will have nothing but a ball of fire." - Balochi musician
Thanks! It will take some time to get used to! But the book is very interesting, so I will give it a serious try! On the other hand, old english books are quite easy to read compared to old swedish books. Almost all books before the 1900th century (and long after that in some cases) were printed in blackletters - almost impossible to read more than a couple of word at a time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackletter
Oh, dear. Are we going to call up every chestnut? What about the error of printers using Y for Þ and people mistakenly pronouncing it "yee" instead of "the"?
djm
I'd rather be atop the foothills than beneath them.
Doucettes. Take Porke & hakke it smal, & Eyroun y-mellyd to-gederys, & a lytel Milke, & melle hem to-gederys with Hony & Pepir, & bake hem in a cofyn, & serue forth.
Euerybodye stoppe complaynynge. Richt nowe.
Seriously. At least your dinner isn't baked in a coffin.
Tell us something.: "Tell us something" hits me a bit like someone asking me to tell a joke. I can always think of a hundred of them until someone asks me for one. You know how it is. Right now, I can't think of "something" to tell you. But I have to use at least 100 characters to inform you of that.
I am very fond of semicolons; they are sort of like periods, only slightly less intrusive. Very pleasant, agreeable little punctuations; they join together what periods cleave asunder.
It makes us blink when we hear American Soap Operas talk of buoys as "Boo-eees". Here (UK) buoy and boy are homophones. They are called buoys because they are buoyed up. In the U.S. are they booeeed up?
WyoBadger wrote:I am very fond of semicolons; they are sort of like periods, only slightly less intrusive. Very pleasant, agreeable little punctuations; they join together what periods cleave asunder.
Tom
Semicolons are out of fad right now. I get "corrected" whenever I use them.
To be on a quest is nothing more or less than to become an asker of questions. -Keen
WyoBadger wrote:I am very fond of semicolons; they are sort of like periods, only slightly less intrusive. Very pleasant, agreeable little punctuations; they join together what periods cleave asunder.
Tom
Semicolons are out of fad right now. I get "corrected" whenever I use them.
Yeah, my English teachers hate my semicolons. They can get over it though, because if they complain, I throw a grammar book in their face. It's always correct. I <3 semicolons.
WyoBadger wrote:I am very fond of semicolons; they are sort of like periods, only slightly less intrusive. Very pleasant, agreeable little punctuations; they join together what periods cleave asunder.
Tom
the microsoft word grammar check sure has a thing about semicolons.
Rose tint my world. Keep me safe from my trouble and pain. 白飞梦
I knew that one was supposed to be in there, but I forgot it by the time I'd put it together. Thanks!
