Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - On the Use of Indian Terms for Identification of Weapon Types

ariel · 31st October 2015, 01:00 PM

I spoke with native Hindi and Farsi speakers. It seems that Mercenary's theory in defining wootz as something like " floral ( or flowery) steel" is indeed mistaken.

In Hindi flower is Ful, steel is Loha. In Farsi flower is Gol, and steel is Fulad.

Thus, Fulad and Ful define two totally different things, and the only thing that "unites" them is partial homophony.

It is indeed a confusing area, especially when two languages are compared or intermixed. Even in the same language there are confusing pairs: complement and compliment, for example. Or, even worse, horse and whores:-)
People may make such mistakes very easily, especially when the language in question is not their native.

So, Mercenary, no cigar, but nice try:-)

31st October 2015, 01:00 PM	#97
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	I spoke with native Hindi and Farsi speakers. It seems that Mercenary's theory in defining wootz as something like " floral ( or flowery) steel" is indeed mistaken. In Hindi flower is Ful, steel is Loha. In Farsi flower is Gol, and steel is Fulad. Thus, Fulad and Ful define two totally different things, and the only thing that "unites" them is partial homophony. It is indeed a confusing area, especially when two languages are compared or intermixed. Even in the same language there are confusing pairs: complement and compliment, for example. Or, even worse, horse and whores:-) People may make such mistakes very easily, especially when the language in question is not their native. So, Mercenary, no cigar, but nice try:-)