Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2024 March 30

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March 30

two 'k's

Why did the Greek 'ekklesia' have two 'k's? Did it make a difference in pronunciation if it had one 'k'? Omidinist (talk) 06:48, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

The word ἐκκλησία comes from ἐκ (ek) + καλέω (kaléō), which means "to call out" (cf. wiktionary), so it simply kept the two κ. In general, doubled consonants were pronounced longer than single ones. --Wrongfilter (talk) 07:21, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

Thanks. Omidinist (talk) 07:29, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

Exploring "nuclear" and the fact that the word is not "nucular"

Many of us know that "nuclear" is a word that is commonly mispronounced "nucular". However, I've explored Wiktionary's Etymology section of the word and it revealed in the etymology that the word adds the -ar suffix to a masculine Latin word, and that the word would have been nucular (the way it is commonly mispronounced) if it had been derived from the feminine form. Is this really true?? Georgia guy (talk) 17:57, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

I don't think that's true. However, if the alternate form nuculeus had been chosen to add a suffix to, it could have been "nuculear". A word ending in "-cular" is "homuncular"... AnonMoos (talk) 19:39, 30 March 2024 (UTC)

I think it is true that if the Romans had formed an adjective from nucula + -aris, the result would have been nucularis, just like familia + -aris gave rise to the word familiaris. The meaning would have been, "related to small nuts". Unlike nucleus, the word nucula did not have the figurative meaning of "core". If there is ever a trade war over pistachio nuts between the US and Greece, it may be called a nucular war.  --Lambiam 20:39, 30 March 2024 (UTC)