[B-Greek] Act 27:14 TUFWNIKOS
George F Somsel
gfsomsel at yahoo.com
Wed Dec 6 07:53:16 EST 2006
Here's another dictionary's version
typhoon (tī-fōōn') noun
A tropical cyclone occurring in the western Pacific or Indian oceans.
[Probably alteration of Chinese (Cantonese) toi fung: Mandarin tái, great + Mandarin fēng, wind]
Word History: Perhaps few words better illustrate the polyglot background of English than typhoon, with its Chinese, Arabic, East Indian, and Greek background. The Greek word typhon, both the name of the father of the winds and a common noun meaning "whirlwind, typhoon," was borrowed into Arabic (as was many a Greek word during the Middle Ages, when Arabic learning both preserved the classical heritege and expanded upon it, passing it on to Europe). ţūfān, the Arabic version of the Greek word, passed into languages spoken in India, where Arabic-speaking Muslim invaders had settled in the 11th century. Thus the descendent of the Arabic word, passing into English (first recorded in 1588) through an Indian language and appearing in English in forms such as touffon and tufan, originally referred specifically to a severe storm in India. China, another great empire, gave us yet another word for a storm, in this case the hurricane that occurred in the waters around China.
This Chinese word in its Cantonese form, toi fung, was similar to our Arabic borrowing and is first recorded in English guise as tuffoon in 1699. The various forms coalesced and finally became typhoon.
Microsoft Bookshelf 1996-97 Edition
george
gfsomsel
_________
----- Original Message ----
From: Eric Inman <eric.inman at wescorpflex.com>
To: Oun Kwon <kwonbbl at gmail.com>; B Greek <b-greek at lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 7:11:58 AM
Subject: Re: [B-Greek] Act 27:14 TUFWNIKOS
My English dictionary (Random House Webster's College Dictionary, 1992)
shows the etymology as:
[1690-1700; < dialect Chinese (Guangdong) daaih-fung (akin to Chinese dafeng
great wind), altered by association with Greek TUFWN violent wind]
-----Original Message-----
From: b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:b-greek-bounces at lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Oun Kwon
Sent: Wednesday, December 06, 2006 1:21 AM
To: B Greek
Subject: [B-Greek] Act 27:14 TUFWNIKOS
Act 27:14 MET OU POLU DE EBALEN KAT AUTHS ANEMOS TUFWNIKS hO
KALOUMENOS EURAKULWN
The English word Typhoon is from Chinese meaning 'great wind'. Is the
Gk TUFWNIKOS originated from a Chinese (it would be surprising if it
did) or is the semblance coincidental?
Oun Kwon.
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