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From: kjm@ut-ngp.UUCP (Ken Montgomery)
Newsgroups: net.jokes.d
Subject: "Kyrie Eleison considered Latin" considered bogus
Message-ID: <2880@ut-ngp.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Jan-86 19:37:04 EST
Article-I.D.: ut-ngp.2880
Posted: Wed Jan 29 19:37:04 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 1-Feb-86 01:15:10 EST
Distribution: net
Organization: UTexas Computation Center, Austin, Texas
Lines: 32
Keywords: Linguistic Lysenkoism :-)

[I can't get mail back to this person, so here goes...]

Really-To: kenf@uxc.CSO.UIUC.EDU
Real-Subject: Greek phonetic transformations ("ei" in Kyrie Eleison)

> > The song Kyrie Eleison (it's Latin, folks) by Mr. Mr. contains
> > a phrase that goes "Carry a laser down the road..."
> >
> > Chad R. Larson                  UUCP {terak!mot}!anasazi!chad
>
> Umm, not so.  It's Greek.  (I've studied both...)
>
> Ken Montgomery
>
>  I don't mean to pick nits but kyrie eleison is Latin. IF it were
>  Greek it would be spelled kyrie eleeson. (You could look it up).
>
>  ken fortenberry

In Greek, "ee" regularly becomes "ei".  Ergo, the second-person singular
aorist active imperative form of the verb "eleew", which the unwary might
expect to be "eleeson", actually appears as "eleison".  (BTW, "eleew" is
a "citation form"; it's customary to list such forms in their uncontracted
states.)

Also, y's don't appear in Latin words, except for those borrowed from other
languages; thus, if you look it up, you will not find a Latin word *Kyrius,
unless your lexicographer has chosen to list borrowings.

Ken Montgomery
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