ElliElephant t1_ja72jny wrote
“man” is much older than that. It comes from the Proto-Indo-European word for hand. Which is evident in words like “manual” “manicure” and so on.
You can almost imagine these people naming themselves “hands” because nothing else around has them
AxialGem t1_ja74he9 wrote
I haven't heard anyone claim that man comes from the word for 'hand?' In fact, I'm not sure what that PIE root for 'hand' is tbh
Of course, the origin of the word human might also go back to PIE, but it's a later addition to English, yea
ElliElephant t1_ja74yy5 wrote
“*man- (2) Proto-Indo-European root meaning "hand." It forms all or part of: amanuensis; command; commando; commend; countermand; demand; Edmund; emancipate; legerdemain; maintain; manacle; manage; manciple; mandamus; mandate; manege; maneuver; manicure; manifest; manipulation; manner; manque; mansuetude; manual; manubrium; manufacture; manumission; manumit; manure; manuscript; mastiff; Maundy Thursday; mortmain; Raymond; recommend; remand; Sigismund.”
AxialGem t1_ja75r6q wrote
Huh, yea that is a good resource!
I guess I just went on a journey on wiktionary, which told me that the origin of latin manus was disputed, although possibly connected. That's why I asked, so I also didn't arrive at the same root for them both.
I'm not actually a historical linguist, so I couldn't tell any more about it, but etymonline is generally pretty good afaik
ElliElephant t1_ja76dkr wrote
Yeah etymon line is great for getting lost in rabbit holes
They generally do a good job of noting when something is speculative or debated
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