# page / leaf (of a book)



## Gavril

Hello,

How do you normally say *"page"* (of a book, newspaper etc.) and *"leaf"* (i.e., an entire sheet of paper in a book, newspaper etc.) in your language?

Many languages seem to use a word for "side" to mean "page" (e.g., Slovene _stran_ "page" or "side") -- I would guess that this is because a "page" is often defined as one of the sides of a sheet of paper. Also, many languages seem to show a connection between the word for "leaf" (of a tree, plant etc.) and "leaf" (of a book).


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## arielipi

Hebrew:
page (one side) עמוד *a*mud
leaf (both sides) דף daf
also for a page theres עלה *a*le which translates to leaf


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## ThomasK

Dutch: 
- page = *pagina, bladzijde *(leaf-side)
- leaf = *blad *(which indeed refers to both the paper and the tree leaf)


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## Gavril

arielipi said:


> Hebrew:
> page (one side) עמוד *a*mud
> leaf (both sides) דף daf
> also for a page theres עלה *a*le which translates to leaf



Do you know what stems the words _amud_ and _daf_ come from?

English *page *appears to come from Latin _pangere_ "fasten", perhaps reflecting the fact that pages are fastened together into a book. Eng. *leaf* probably had the biological meaning (leaf of a tree, etc.) before it had the technological meaning (sheet of paper) -- I don't know of any Germanic cognate (German _Laub_, Icelandic _lauf_ etc.) that refers to a sheet of paper.


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## ThomasK

You're right: in Dutch and German _loof/ Laub_  seem to be collective - and have led to _loge, lodge_, i.e. shelter; they refer to the leaf roof for example, or the collection of leaves. The famous Belgian endives are called *witloof *for that reason.

As for _blad_, it seems to be related with French _feuille_, Engels _foil, _Latin _folia. _


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## arielipi

amud comes from the stem ע-מ-ד *'*-m-d
daf comes from the stem ד-פ-פ d-f-f.

Have I misunderstood your question though?


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## ThomasK

I would be interested to hear whether you can use those stems in other words as well. They can't be used as verbs, I suppose.


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## Gavril

arielipi said:


> amud comes from the stem ע-מ-ד *'*-m-d
> daf comes from the stem ד-פ-פ d-f-f.
> 
> Have I misunderstood your question though?



I was also curious what these two stems mean?


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## arielipi

@Thomas yes, amud is also a column, each of the foundations [=elements] that the world is built upon (that is more like in folklore-tales), first, a thing of a risen/higher level, stand,
post, pole, pillar, column ; lectern, pulpit.
also (though not related) the same stem is used for 'stand' stems.
specifically for amud (page) there is a verb imud עימוד = pagination, layout.

d-f-f is a stem, and you can you that stem for 'browsing pages' 'turn pages'.

@gavril - what dyou mean what do they mean? its a stem :S


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## Gavril

arielipi said:


> @Thomas yes, amud is also a column, each of the foundations [=elements] that the world is built upon (that is more like in folklore-tales), first, a thing of a risen/higher level, stand,
> post, pole, pillar, column ; lectern, pulpit.
> also (though not related) the same stem is used for 'stand' stems.
> specifically for amud (page) there is a verb imud עימוד = pagination, layout.
> 
> d-f-f is a stem, and you can you that stem for 'browsing pages' 'turn pages'.
> 
> @gavril - what dyou mean what do they mean? its a stem :S



I don't know the correct terminology to use in Hebrew, but in some other Semitic languages, I have seen stems defined in relation to a corresponding verb: k-t-b "write", b-n-y "build" etc.

It looks as though the verb associated with *´-m-d* (_amud_, _imud_ etc.) is "stand" -- is that correct? What verb is associated with *d-f-f*?


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## arielipi

In hebrew there are many times an overlap of uses for the "same" stem; the same letters are used for two or more words in the root, but actually the stems are unrelated.
For example: the root of the translation of count(ing) is the same as of portion/ration/unit - the same letters are in the root, but the roots are unrelated.

'-m-d is used for 3 major things: pages and its stems, pillars/columns and its stems, stand and its stems.
d-f-f is used for page interactions: turning pages.


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## apmoy70

Hi Gavril,

In Greek:

Entire sheet of paper (both sides) of a book/newspaper/magazine: *«Φύλλο»* ['filo] (neut.) --> _leaf_ < Classical Gr. *«φύλλον» pʰúllŏn* (neut.) --> _leaf, leaflike part of plant_ (PIE *bʰel-/*bʰlh₃-, _leaf, blossom_ cf Arm. բողբոջ [boɣ'bodʒ], _bud_).

Page: *«Σελίδα»* [se'liða] (fem.) --> _page_ < Classical Gr. 3rd declension fem. noun *«σελίς» sĕlís* --> _Crossbeam of a building or ship, cross stripe of column in a papyrus roll_ (with obscure etymology, possibly pre-Greek).


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## bibax

Czech:

*strana* = side (e.g. reverse/obverse side), page (in a book), also political party;
*stránka* (dim. of strana) = page;
*list* = leaf (of a tree), sheet (of paper), blade (e.g. saw blade), vane, newspaper, certificate, letter (= epistula);

German:

*die Seite* = side, page;
die Page = page;
*das Blatt* = leaf, sheet, blade, newspaper (das Tageblatt);

Žluté stránky = die Gelben Seiten = Yellow Pages;

Latin:

*pagina*, dim. *pagella, paginula* (from pango, pangere), originally row of grapevine shrubs;
*folium* = leaf, hence folio, foliant;
*scheda, schida, scida* = sheet of paper (from Greek schede);


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## ThomasK

Always fascinating to see how much cultural-historical information comes along with these questions. _(Too bad so few non-IE language speakers take part. Aren't there ways to get them to join these threads???)_


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## kirahvi

Finnish:

sivu = page, side
paperiarkki = sheet of paper
lehti = magazine, leaf of a tree
aukeama = double-page, ie. left page and right page

I'm not sure I understand "leaf" in this context. Does one leaf consist of four pages, ie. left page and right page on two sides of the leaf? If so, I don't know how that would be called in Finnish.


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## Gavril

kirahvi said:


> I'm not sure I understand "leaf" in this context. Does one leaf consist of four pages, ie. left page and right page on two sides of the leaf? If so, I don't know how that would be called in Finnish.



By "leaf", I mean a sheet of paper in a book or other bound volume, consisting of two pages (one on each side). This is called _lehti _in Finnish, according to my dictionary.


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## ThomasK

interesting is, K, that you  refer to a magazine as _lehti_, metonymically, I suppose, which we could do too (Dutch _blad _meaning magazine, or newspaper --- just like _paper _in English for _newspaper_), or is a lehti only a magazine? --- i wonder why you have a word for a double page, or is that a double page that looks like a mini-newspaper (_katern _in Dutch, something like a 4-page paper/newspaper section) ?


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## rusita preciosa

Russian is similar to Czech:
*страница* /stranitsa/ - page (has the root *-strn-* meaning "side")
*лист* /list/ - leaf (paper or tree)


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## bibax

ThomasK said:


> --- I wonder why you have a word for a double page, or is that a double page that looks like a mini-newspaper (_katern _in Dutch, something like a 4-page paper/newspaper section)?


The *folio* (abbreviated *2°*) is a book or pamphlet made up of one or more full sheets of paper, on each of which four pages of text are printed, two on each side; each sheet is then folded once to produce two leaves.

In Czech the folded sheet is called *složka* (lit. folder), from the verb složiti = to fold (up).


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## ahmedcowon

In Arabic:

*صفحة safħa* = page (one side of a paper)
*ورقة waraqa* = paper, sheet, leaf



arielipi said:


> amud is also a column, each of the foundations [=elements] that the world is built upon (that is more like in folklore-tales), first, a thing of a risen/higher level, stand,
> post, pole, pillar, column ; lectern, pulpit.



The word 3amoud _(3=ayin)_ عمود is also used in Arabic to mean the same (column, pillar, post, ...) but we don't use it to mean "page"


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## arielipi

ספר sefer is book in hebrew;
a leaf (to clarify) is a paper -two pages.


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## Grefsen

Gavril said:


> Many languages seem to use a word for "side" to mean "page" (e.g., Slovene _stran_ "page" or "side") -- I would guess that this is because a "page" is often defined as one of the sides of a sheet of paper.


In Norwegian the word *side *is used to mean "page" and the plural of *side* is *sider.* 

*Boken har 300 sider. *- The book has 300 pages. 



ThomasK said:


> Dutch:
> - page = *pagina, bladzijde *(leaf-side)
> - leaf = *blad *(which indeed refers to both the paper and the tree leaf)


Norwegian also uses the word *blad *to mean both the "leaf" in a book as well as a "tree leaf."  
*
Blad *can also be used to mean "magazine" as well as "blade."

*ukeblad* - weekly magazine
*
barberblad* - razor blade


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## fdb

bibax said:


> German:
> 
> *die Seite* = side, page;
> die Page = page;
> *das Blatt* = leaf, sheet, blade, newspaper (das Tageblatt);


 
"der (not die) Page" means "page" in the sense "page boy". Not at all what we are looking for here.


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## bibax

But I wrote die Page and not der Page (= der Schildknappe, Knappe, Edelknabe).

The feminine noun _*die Page*_ is probably an Anglicism, a jargon term related to computing. It is indeed not related to a sheet of paper but to the screen.

Example: Die neue Page ist jetzt endlich online. _(The new page is now finally online.)_


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## ThomasK

Interesting addition by Grefsen: _razor blade_, and indeed all kinds of these blades, also in Dutch - and in German, I believe. The root is the same as of _blad_...


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## Gavril

bibax said:


> Latin:
> 
> *pagina*, dim. *pagella, paginula* (from pango, pangere), originally row of grapevine shrubs;



Interestingly, the semantic development of _pagina _may have been "row of shrubs (fastened by stakes)" > "columns of writing (on a scroll)" > "page (in a book)".

Are we sure, though, that "row of shrubs" was the original meaning of _pagina_ (rather than a parallel development)? Etymonline mentions this as a possibility, but it says that the "page" meaning could also simply have come from pages being fastened/bound into a book.


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## kirahvi

Gavril said:


> By "leaf", I mean a sheet of paper in a book or other bound volume, consisting of two pages (one on each side). This is called _lehti _in Finnish, according to my dictionary.



Thanks, Gavril. I had never heard of that usage in English, and had always thought the Finnish use in expressions like "_kirjan lehdillä_" is purely symbolic. That explains also the verb _lehteillä_, to leaf, which I had always thought comes from the _magazine_ meaning of the word _lehti_.



ThomasK said:


> interesting is, K, that you  refer to a magazine as _lehti_, metonymically, I suppose, which we could do too (Dutch _blad _meaning magazine, or newspaper --- just like _paper _in English for _newspaper_), or is a lehti only a magazine? --- i wonder why you have a word for a double page, or is that a double page that looks like a mini-newspaper (_katern _in Dutch, something like a 4-page paper/newspaper section) ?



_Aukeama_ is when you open a book, for example, and you see a left page and a right page at the same time. It comes from _auki_, open (adj.). _Lehti_ can mean a newspaper, too. The whole word is _sanomalehti_, but people often talk about _lehti_, just like (news)paper in English.


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## ThomasK

I see, Kirahvi... Somehow it seems to me to be a concept we don't have: a double page, yes, but I don't think it is quite the same...


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## Grefsen

kirahvi said:


> _Aukeama_ is when you open a book, for example, and you see a left page and a right page at the same time.


Advertisments that cover the left and right pages of a magazine are called double-page ads and a picture that covers both the left and right pages of a book is a double-page spread.  I'd be curious to know if there are any other English words beside double-page that have the same meaning as *aukeama.*


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## SuperXW

In Chinese (PRC simplified):
页 = page
I don't know the etymology, but it's pronunciation is exactly the same to that of 叶 (leaf).
It's possible that some traditional Chinese documents also use 页(page) or 叶(leaf) to mean a sheet (2 sides), but I'm not sure.
In standard modern Chinese, people only use 页 for "page".


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## ger4

In Estonian:
- _leht_: 'leaf' (of a tree)
- _lehekülg_: 'page' (lit. 'leaf-side')
- _paberileht_: 'sheet of paper' (lit. 'paper-leaf')
- _ajaleht_: 'newspaper' (lit. 'time-leaf')
- _lendleht_: 'leaflet' (lit. 'fly-leaf')


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## ThomasK

And a razorblade, Holger?


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## ger4

'Razorblade' in Estonian is _žilett_ < _Gillette_  or, more traditionally, _habemenuga_ (_habeme_ = 'beard-' + _nuga_ = 'knife'). 

Perhaps I can add something to the German terms already mentioned in previous posts: _Blatt_ can mean:
- 'leaf' (of a plant)
- 'sheet' (of paper)
- 'blade' (of a saw, for instance)(also _Propellerblatt -_ AE 'propeller blade' - as in Czech, mentioned in #35 )  
- '(news)paper' (short form)

'Razor blade' in German is _Rasierklinge_ <-- _(Messer)klinge_ = 'blade of a knife'


> http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2700618&page=2&p=13635955#post13635955 Originally Posted by *bibax*
> [...] The feminine noun _*die Page*_ is probably an Anglicism, a jargon term related to computing. It is indeed not related to a sheet of paper but to the screen.
> Example: Die neue Page ist jetzt endlich online. _(The new page is now finally online.) _[...]


It is true, we say _*die* Homepage._ I guess it's feminine gender in German simply because Seite ('page') is feminine as well. A literal translation into German would be *_Heimseite_ but I've never heard it.


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## Dymn

In *Catalan* one side is called normally _pàgina _(page) or less commonly _cara _(face) or _plana _(plain).

For two sides we use _full, _etymologically related to _fulla _​(leaf).


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## bibax

In Czech the noun *list* has the same meanings like the German *Blatt* (post #33), plus _'blade of a propeller'_ and _'epistle'_.

Razor blade in Czech is *čepelka* (also žiletka), which is diminutive of čepel = blade of a knife/sword, die Klinge.


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## M Mira

I don't have enough solid evidence to back this up, but it seems that this holds true for Chinese as well. During Han Dynasty, the modern character for "page", 頁, meant only "head" and was quite rare. Then it suddenly reemerged during Song Dynasty as a character that means "page" and homophonous to 葉 "leaf" (與涉切、入聲).

Later, in Qing Dynasty, Duan Yucai commented on the character 葉：「凡物之薄者、皆得以葉名。 」"All things that are thin can be called 葉" in Shuowen Jiezi from Han Dynasty.


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## Ghabi

^The word for "page" is still written as 葉 in bibliographical literature (for the physical description of a book). The orthographical change to 頁 has masked the word's etymology.


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## ThomasK

A technical-linguistic question: would you agree that all these terms have some underlying 'concept'/ idea?


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## 810senior

In Japanese we use a loan word from English, as in ページ(_peezi_, c.f. page)
As for leaf, we use counter suffix like 枚(mai, a paper[piece] of ~), 面(men, commonly used for a page of newspapers)


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## 123xyz

Macedonian:

страна - side (general; sometimes it can mean "page", but this usage is frowned up)
страница - page (and not "side", although it's evidently derived from the word for "side")
лист - leaf (of a tree, and also "sheet" of paper, but not "page")


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