Can anybody tell about the phonetic relation of
Lithuanian sakyti and Old English secgan ( say), 
Latin frango and Modern English break,
Latin fagus and Old English boc (book),
Gothic taihswa and Russian desnoj/ Latin dexter?

Lithuanian sakyti and Old English secgan (say)
Can’t help here.

Latin frango and Modern English break
From frango, we get fracture and fraction. Break is Germanic, I believe. No direct relation.

Latin fagus and Old English boc (book)
Both derive from words relating to beech (wood), which might have been used for writing tablets. Other than that, don’t know.

Gothic taihswa and Russian desnoj/ Latin dexter?
Can’t help here.

Send a PM to Druge; she lives in Lithuania.

Sashka - 26 October 2009 06:43 AM

Can anybody tell about the phonetic relation of
Lithuanian sakyti and Old English secgan ( say), 
Latin frango and Modern English break,
Latin fagus and Old English boc (book),
Gothic taihswa and Russian desnoj/ Latin dexter?

I found all this on etymonline.com.  Hope it helps.

say (v.)
O.E. secgan “to utter, say,” from P.Gmc. *sagjanan (cf. O.S. seggian, O.N. segja, O.Fris. sedsa, M.Du. segghen, Du. zeggen, O.H.G. sagen, Ger. sagen “to say”), from PIE *sokei-, probably from base *seq- “point out” (cf. Hitt. shakiya- “to declare,” Lith. sakyti “to say,” O.C.S. sociti “to vindicate, show,” O.Ir. insce “speech,” O.Latin inseque “to tell say”). Past tense said developed from O.E. segde. Not attested in use with inanimate objects (clocks, signs, etc.) as subjects before 1930. You said it “you’re right” first recorded 1919; you can say that again as a phrase expressing agreement is recorded from 1942, Amer.Eng. You don’t say (so) as an expression of astonishment (often ironic) is first recorded 1779, Amer.Eng.

fraction
1391, from L.L. fractionem (nom. fractio) “a breaking,” especially into pieces, from root of L. frangere (pt. fregi) “to break,” from PIE base *bhr(e)g- (cf. Skt. (giri)-bhraj “breaking-forth (out of the mountains);” Goth. brikan, O.E. brecan “to break;” Lith. brasketi “crash, crack;” O.Ir. braigim “break” wind). Mathematical sense was the original one in Eng. Sense of “broken off piece, fragment,” is from 1606.

book
O.E. boc, traditionally from P.Gmc. *bokiz “beech” (cf. Ger. Buch “book” Buche “beech;” the notion being of beechwood tablets on which runes were inscribed), but may be from the tree itself (people still carve initials in them). The O.E. originally meant any written document. Latin and Sanskrit also have words for “writing” that are based on tree names (“birch” and “ash,” respectively). Meaning “libretto of an opera” is from 1768. Verb meaning “to enter for a seat or place, issue (railway) tickets” is from 1841; “to engage a performer as a guest” is from 1872. A betting book is from 1856; bookmaker in the wagering sense is from 1862.

dexterity
1527, from M.Fr. dexterite, from L. dexteritatem (nom. dexteritas), from dexter “skillful,” also “right (hand),” from PIE base *dek-, cf. Gk. dexios “on the right hand,” also “fortunate, clever;” Goth. taihswa; Skt. daksinah “on the right hand, southern, skillful;” Lith. desinas; O.Ir. dess “on the right hand, southern.” Klein says the PIE base meant “to take, receive,” also “acceptable, becoming, good.” The Gk. and L. forms are with the comp. suffix -ter, thus meaning etymologically “the better direction.” M.E. dester meant “right hand,” and in heraldry dexter means “on the right side.”

good site: thanks for putting it there

No worries.  It’s usually the first place I check if there’s a word I come across and I just have to know where it comes from.  Of course I can check on here too now that I’ve found yourdictionary!!

etymonline.com, good site.

ambidextrous - two right hands,  what’s wrong with the lefts
ambivelous - two left hands (cack-handed in british)

If you have two right hands, it seems that the “left right hand” would face outward. Must be hard to scratch and tie shoes.

not to mention clapping, unless you stood next to someone with two left hands, then you could clap their right left hand with your left right hand.

And if you missed, you could say, “Let’s try that again. I don’t think we got the clap.”

....in the head.

I think I have two right brains.

or none at all.

humor
1340, “fluid or juice of an animal or plant,” from Anglo-Norm. humour, from O.Fr. humor, from L. umor “body fluid” (also humor, by false assoc. with humus “earth”), related to umere “be wet, moist,” and to uvescere “become wet.” In ancient and medieval physiology, “any of the four body fluids” (blood, phlegm, choler, and melancholy or black bile) whose relative proportions were thought to determine state of mind. This led to a sense of “mood, temporary state of mind” (first recorded 1525); the sense of “amusing quality, funniness” is first recorded 1682, probably via sense of “whim, caprice” (1565), which also produced the verb sense of “indulge,” first attested 1588. “The pronunciation of the initial h is only of recent date, and is sometimes omitted ....” [OED] Humorous in the modern sense is first recorded 1705. For types of humor, see the useful table below, from H.W. Fowler [“Modern English Usage,” 1926].

Get some leeches. I’m melancholic.

Some Hallowe’en discussion, eh Wesley.