Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Jafeyska (Java, the programming language)

.The programming language Java was named fater Java coffee, said to be consumed in large quantities by the language's creators. The Íslenska orðsifjabók mentions 'jafi, javi' and 'jafa, java' in the meaning of 'loosely-woven fabric'. The word originates from Danish 'java', which is identical to the name of the Indonesian island, where the fabric originated from. This example shows that we could use the consonant 'f' instead of 'v' in the Icelandic adaptation of the island's name, which would give the name a less international and as a consequence a more distinct Icelandic appearance. Because we're dealing with an island it is also possible to attach -ey (island) to the adapted stem'jaf-', as is done in 'Sikiley' or 'Lemney' (Greek island of Lemnos, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_exonyms . Another thing that motivated me to integrate the word 'island' was the Sanskrit version: "yāvaka dvīpa" (dvīpa = island). The hyperpurist adaptation of the island's name thus becomes Jafey, derivations from which can easily be derived: jafeyskur, jafeyingur, jafneyska. Of course, it's still a loan-word, but sufficiently uninternationalized and at the same time still enough recognizable that any hyperpurist could live with it.
Instead of some less hyperpuristic Icelanders, who want to use the loan-word 'dúx', I, myself, prefer the Old Icelandic 'Tyggi' (Tyggja, Tyggja, Tyggja), an old Icelandic name for 'leader' or 'king' and related to the English 'Duke' and the Latin Dux. And I would also use 'tyggi' in the meaning of 'the person with the highest marks in a grade or school'.

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