Housing foundations

 

[Foundations of an old house*]

English is the ultimate collector of words, building on roots from any language it encounters. Yet, sometimes, meanings get lost or significantly changed in transition. To demonstrate, I present an interesting short survey of various words in English for a dwelling.

[Colorful town houses]

Both house and home originated from the same proto-German root khusan but went slightly different directions later on haim keeping its original idea of a permanent residence and hus, derived from hide, both the verb and noun, referring to a shelter.

[Irish manor]

Of course, not houses are created equal. For the rich and famous, their abode may be a mansion, from the Latin root manere, to stay, implying where the land owners actually spent lived most of the time. A slightly more modest option is a villa, clearly a Latin/old Italian word, which originally referred to a summer home, like a dacha in Russia, but now implying a permanent detached residence. For the super-rich, they may even own a chateau, literally a castle, although it has been quite few centuries since its residents needed protection from attack aside from paparazzi. On the other scale, in hot climates, a bungalow is a very reasonable option, logical as it refers to a Bengalese traditional house. The old forest cottage, merely a hut, is now rather common in the cities and has grown in size. A temporary soldiers tent in Spanish, a  barraca, became a fixed residence for soldiers, i.e., barracks. A  a home away from home in the mountain for herders known as a chalet is rather expensive now.

[Apartment building]

For those of us that cannot afford or choose not to live a detached life style, an apartment is the standard option. Curiously, the word literally means as it sounds, a separated place in Italian. Somehow, when I hear the neighbors moving furniture above me, I don’t feel so separated. Its English cousin, a flat, also has a bit of twisted journey. It is derived from an old French word for flat, the adjective. It is funny how today many English housing units are on two if not more stories. In the US, an apartment that is bought, not rented, is called a condominium, which literally means shared living, which is at least honest. Its upscale neighbor, the penthouse, was apparently an addition to the building as originally referred to an appendage, an added building in old French, apparently someone similar to the luxury suites that stadiums add to establish stadiums to increase revenue.

[Shanty town]

Alas, not everybody is fortunate enough to enjoy reasonable quality housing. Some people live in tenements, dilatated apartments, which originally implied actually owning the place, unlike today. In the country, many poor families grow up in a shack, a Mexican-Spanish word for an adobe hut,  a structure that experienced a material switch to wood. A lumberjack’s temporary home, a shanty, became a last resort of the unemployed and homless in some countries. With a history that is no less sad, crowing up on a croft in Scotland was no pleasure but it did have land and provide something to eat as it was a short land allotment until the English threw the residents off the land.

[Yurt]

Some housing is temporary by definition. The basic English word tent is derived from the Latin verb tendere, to stretch, which makes sense to any person that ever put one up. Other cultures considered home to be where the hearth is regardless of its permenance.  The Turkish root of tree lent its name to the yurt as it provided a root to those tribes. Likewise, the teepee literally means they dwell, technically the truth. The more northern igloo is merely a house. Some homes are born to roam, as Bruce Springsteen would say.

[Toy house on lawn]

So, whatever your pad, technically a bundle of straw, is, be thankful for a roof over your head and consider the magnificent collection of words the English language has succeeded in hoarding over the centuries, thus creating a fine foundation of words to describe your humble abode, often with changes to their original meanings.

* Picture captions help the blind fully access the Internet.

Picture credits – Pixabay