Re: What is ur-definition ?

Martin Duerst writes:

>> I happen to speak German, and I don't think there is that much
>> of a relation between ur- and u"ber- (sorry for the spelling,
>> my Japanese mailer won't let me do better). Ur- appears in
>> things such as Ursprung (origin), Urgrossvater (great-grandfather),
>> Urknall (big bang), Ursache (cause, reason), Urheber (originator,
>> author), Urgewalt (elemental force), and so on.
>> The general meaning is something like 'original', 'very very old',
>> and so on.

I stand corrected, thanks.  In any case, ur does come from the German, if 
not exactly from the souce I had thought.  (I have always thought it a bit 
much to mix just this bit of German into a language which is otherwise 
expressed in English, as it seems to invite confusion, but....)  Thanks 
for setting the record straight.

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Noah Mendelsohn                                    Voice: 1-617-693-4036
Lotus Development Corp.                            Fax: 1-617-693-8676
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Received on Sunday, 18 February 2001 12:03:06 UTC