databases (was: Re: [Buddha-l] Tibetan for...?)

[Jim Peavler]

"data" is a fairly recent English word, used first within the last  
hundred years (I used to know when and where). The word had not been  
used for many centuries when it was introduced as a word for a  
collection of instances in a mathematical context. English speakers  
have commandeered words since before Beowulf, from whatever language  
was handy, and nearly immediately changed the word (from French,  
Latin, Old German, Spanish, etc) into English -- with English  
inflections (or lacks thereof).

In my opinion it is very interesting to recognize the etymology of  
English words, such as "data", but it is completely unnecessary to  
try to return them to their original language.

Place name pronunciations are an especially amusing example of the  
same tendency (which is as old as the language). Most of us are  
outraged the first time we hear a native of places like Nevada or  
Versailles Missouri or Buena Vista or Salida or Del Norte pronounce  
the names of their hometowns.

When we hear such outrages against the historical origin of such  
names we must remember that the person naming the place in many  
instances was not intending to be speaking the original language but  
considered the name to be just a name. When you are in places like  
Texas or New Mexico, however, the namers of places were using the  
Spanish of their place and time so presumably the correct  
pronunciation would be Spanish rather than the later anglicized version.


On Jan 5, 2007, at 8:37 PM, jkirk wrote:

> Thus, I conclude that
>> .....though probably the people who coined "database" were unaware  
>> that the singular of "data" is "datum".
>>
>> Best wishes,
>> Stephen Hodge
> -==================
> You're no doubt right about that!
> JK
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Jim Peavler
jmp at peavler.org