Random thought

[pne]

To nurse (i.e. to feed at a breast) in German is stillen (both in the transitive and intransitive senses: Die Mutter stillte ihr Kind "The mother nursed her child"; Das Kind stillte an der Brust "The child nursed at (her mother's) breast", though the second form is more uncommon, I'd say)—apparently a derivative of still "still, quiet": by my feeling, a causative "to cause to be quiet". Which is what it often does, even if the child is not hungry but just needs some comfort or closeness :)

The cognate verb to still isn't used in English, though, is it? The only thing that comes to mind is technical jargon from Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series; IIRC it's used for the process of removing a male channeler's powers, or something like that? Anyone familiar with the series who can provide details?

Comments

[robnorth.livejournal.com]

"Still" as a verb is quite rare in everyday spoken English, at least from my observations here on the Wet Coast of Canuckistan and on North American Tee Vee. It's become one of those words thought of as "literary" -- i.e. you might see it in a poem or in one of those books that only highbrows read, but no-one else would ever dare to use it. You'd never hear it in a bar or in a hockey dressing room, for example.

[bluewingedcat.livejournal.com]

Common vernacular for quieting a child in the non-vulgar sense is often 'hush' or 'quiet'. Vulgar vernacular for it is 'shut up'.

Hush seems to be more common than quiet. This is probably because hush *sounds* quieting, since the common "quiet yourself" noise is 'shhhh'.

Thanks for forcing me to analyze some of my own language. I forget to do that very often anymore.