(no subject)
Jan. 4th, 2012 05:14 pmTwo minor linguistic things;
- I have to wonder if "tengu" in Japanese mythology are a linguistic and possible mythological borrowing of Mongolian "tenger" - spirits, and the word derives from tengri, the sky, which is a pretty crow-a-riffic sort of place.
- A female donkey is a "jenny/jennet." It occurs to me that riding "jinete," riding bent-legged rather than using a medieval straight-legged saddle, is a Moorish introduction, and given that riding bent-legged is easier with a smaller animal, and that what little I know about Spain includes "pretty mountainous," I'd be willing to bet the word derives from riding donkeys, rather than horses.