Comments on: Diagram of the Human Body Using Etymologies

By: drcharles

drcharles — Thu, 01 Aug 2013 20:13:39 +0000

Thanks for the comments, fascinating really, and add a lot to the topic!

By: James Wilk, MD

James Wilk, MD — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 12:37:19 +0000

Have you heard of Grimm’s law? It essentially governs the consonant changes that appear in Germanic languages as they developed from Indo-European. It describes the changes that appear in consonants called stops. The consonants come in three types: voiced, unvoiced, and fricative, and can be made in three parts of the mouth: labial, dental, and velar.

The stops are:

labial: B (voiced), P (unvoiced), F (fricative; think ph as in phone)
dental: D (voiced), T (unvoiced), TH (fricative; unvoiced, as in thin)
velar: G (voiced), K (unvoiced), CH (fricative, as in the German, ich)

The rule is as follows: voiced –> unvoiced; unvoiced –> fricative; fricative –> voiced.

Now, look at the Greek root, kard- (as in cardiac), meaning heart. It has two stops: K and D. Apply Grimm’s law. What happens? K becomes CH and D becomes T. Kard –> chart (but the ch is not like ch as in church, but more like an H, as in the German, ich); it essentially becomes “hart.”

Look, too, at the Greek pod- (as in podiatry), meaning foot. It has two stops, P and D. Apply Grimm’s law and what happens? P becomes F and D becomes T. Pod –> fot, the proto-germanic, “foot.”

Pretty cool, no?

By: Delia

Delia — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 19:14:51 +0000

Such an amazing post, these are all so cool to see how body parts were thought of in older times. Thanks for sharing!

By: Dr. Pullen

Dr. Pullen — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 15:58:59 +0000

Really a fun post. I always enjoy your writing, and this is another great example. Thanks.

By: Karen

Karen — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 20:43:51 +0000

That is awesome to see! Greeks may have had some interesting views on human anatomy but they did provide a lot of what we know today. Thanks for sharing!

By: Hamid Shibata Bennett, LMT, CAMT

Hamid Shibata Bennett, LMT, CAMT — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 16:05:12 +0000

Found this on Zite app this morning. Truly appreciate the different perspectives on anatomy. I’ve been a fascia geek the past decade and still find it fascinating to be talking about the middle jiao with acupuncturists… It’s still the hara, the enteric nervous system, the second brain, our emotional center…

Mizu. Agua. Water. Same ol’ stuff.

Thanks for the post!