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This is the entry for 'poika' in a Finnish etymological dictionary (Nykysuomen etymologinen sanakirja), run through deepl:

"The word has definite etymological equivalents in both closely related and distantly related languages, e.g. Karelian and Votic poika, Ludic and Vepsian poig}, Estonian poeg, Livonian puoga, Komi and Udmurt pi, Mansi pig, and Hungarian fiu. Possible equivalents are also the initial parts of the Mordvin word pijo 'grandchild' and the Mari word puerge 'male person' (erge 'man'). The original form of the word has been reconstructed as *pojka. The Swedish pojke, which in the past also meant 'servant boy', is apparently a loanword from Finnish. In contrast, the English boy and the etymologically related German Bube have different origins."


From what I can see, the etymology for "boy" beyond relatively modern cognates is still undetermined. It could have entered germanic before 900 and left no written traces before later appearing in Middle English. Finns and Estonians were involved in sea trade around that time (borrowing words such as kauppa, cognate with "shop") so a word for "servant boy" would have been useful.

In particular, the pronunciation of Estonian "poeg" and "poiss" seem too close to be entirely coincidental.


The English title is 'Quest for Fire'.

There are actually two distinct languages (a kind of Proto-Proto-Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Proto-Proto-Uralic) spoken in the movie, created by Anthony Burgess. He later wrote an essay (the title of which escapes me ATM) about the thinking behind it.

Some background: https://www.anthonyburgess.org/quest-for-fire/about-quest-fo...


This might possibly be the essay you refer to:

https://archive.is/20240311220449/https://www.nytimes.com/19...


> a kind of ancient taboo on certain words, like fire, that they are not spoken directly but instead connected with other, similar sources; it is like calling the toilet or jakes the bathroom

I find it amusing that we can reconstruct that PIE speakers had a verb for "to get high", but we can't reconstruct their noun for "bear", because it was taboo: speaking of the bear was like speaking of the devil, and so all we know are all the different ways the different languages chose to talk about the bear without saying its name.


For comparison: Spanish has around 4000 words of Arabic origin.

I don't think anyone ever called Spanish almost Semitic.


It is true that no one would call it almost Semitic, but some very common words are of arabic origin.

Taza, guitarra, almohada, albañil, algebra, elíxir, tamarindo, fulano, alfombra, acimut, cenit, café, azúcar, naranja, azar, ajedrez, arsenal, aceite, alcohol, arroba, azulejo, alberca, cero, etc.

And also several toponyms, the most famous probably being Andalucía.


Several of the words you list are also English words: guitar, algebra, elixir, tamarind, cafe, orange, arsenal, alcohol. When talking about English origins do we count those for Spanish or Arabic? ;)


Only guitar in that list comes to English from a Spanish etymology, the others come from Arabic via medieval Latin, French and Italian, not Spanish.


azimuth, zenith


Andalucía to name the geography is Arabic-speakers’ legacy, but as a term for a people, it can be traced further back to a Germanic root.


There is a technical linguistic term for it - th fronting:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th-fronting

Apparently it's been around for quite a bit of time.


Likewise here in Germany. 0.79 €/500 g for the own brand in just about every supermarket (it used to be 0.49 € before inflation hit).


There is an effect called dispersion, which causes different frequencies of electromagnetic radiation to travel through a medium at different speeds (lower frequencies => slower).

It's strong enough to be noticeable in the case of pulsars (but probably insignificant inside the solar system).


The Finnish course is especially bad in this regard. You learn the words for 'lynx' (ilves) and 'wolverine' (ahma), but not for 'left' and 'right'.


Standing calf raises train the gastrocnemius and the soleus. Many gyms also have a seated calf raise machine which is meant to isolate the soleus.

I don't think I ever felt anything special after using it.


You'd know if you had isolated the soleus. It feels weirdly (but noticeably) different to activating the gastroc. Much deeper and more centralized.


Depends on the activity level. According to this calculator:

https://www.calculator.net/bmr-calculator.html

his (assuming a dude) energy expenditure is:

Basal metabolic rate: 1819 cal/day

Sedentary (little or no exercise) 2,183

Exercise 1-3 times/week 2,501


If he is in the "little or no exercise" category, he should aim to get into "Exercise" category. Exercise (in reasonable amount) is healthy whether you loose weight or not.

He should not be aiming for "basal metabolic rate".


There's also a video series to go along with the book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTle8uT7NEM&list=PLmXNllWcFF...


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