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--- Isaac Penzev skrzypszy: > > > > Bon zrn! - Good morning! > > > > > > What's the origin of the root _zrn_ ? > > > > _Diurnus_, I guess. It sounds a lot like "Buon Giorno". > > Yea, that was my guess too, but the semantics of the word confused me. > _Diurnus_ would rather mean 'day', or '24-hours period' (Russian 'sutki'). It does indeed. But IMO a semantic shift is not at all unlikely. Originally, _diurnus_ was an adjective, meaning "daily, pertaining to a day". What's so strange in a slight change to "pertaining to (the beginning of) a day" > "morning"? Especially if you consider the fact that in many languages "morning" and "tomorrow" get mixed up (German/Dutch "Morgen", Polish "jutro" vs. Russian "utro"), and that in several language the greeting "good morning" was extended to the whole day (for example in Low Saxon "Moyn moyn"). And don't forget that we already have _d�z_ for "day"! > L _m�t�t�nus_ 'morning' (adj.); If you really dislike "zrn", this could be an alternative: _matutin_ or perhaps _matin_ ['mat_jin]. Jan ===== "If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a closed room with a mosquito." ________________________________________________________________________ BT Yahoo! Broadband - Free modem offer, sign up online today and save �80 http://btyahoo.yahoo.co.uk