# usually - habit



## ThomasK

There is something strange & interesting in French and English: both *habit *(clothes), *habiter *(to live), _*habitude *_(habit) have the same etymological root. 

But how about your word for 'usual(ly)'? 

- Dutch: *gewoonlijk*, maybe linked with _wonen _(to live, _habiter_)
- Dutch: _*gebruikelijk*_, linked with _gebruiken _(to use)
- English: *usual*(ly), related with _to use_


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

*Habit:* «Συνήθεια» [si'niθi.a] (fem.) < compound, prefix & preposition «συν» [sin] (ancient «σὺν» sun) --> _together with_ + neut. noun «έθος» ['eθos] (ancient «ἔθεος» ĕtʰĕŏs & «ἔθος» ĕtʰŏs --> _custom, habit_; PIE *swedʰ-, _custom_, cf Lat. suescere > cōnsuēscō > Vulgar Lat. consuetudo > OF costume, Eng. custom; Proto-Germanic *sedu- > Ger. Sitte).
*Usual:* Adj. «συνήθης, -ης, σύνηθες» [si'niθis] (masc. & fem.), ['siniθes] (neut.).
*Usually:* Adv. «συνήθως» [si'niθos].


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian *szokás [1372] (habit) < ancient Hungarian word of unknown origin > szokásos [1581] (usual)


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## ahmedcowon

In Arabic:

these words are dervied from the root عود (ʕ-w-d), this root is used for words with the meaning of (to return, to get back)

the verb عاد /ʕaada/ means "to return"
the verb اعتاد /eʕtaada/ means "to be used to"

*Habit:*عادة /ʕaada/

*Usual:* عادة /ʕaada/ *or* معتاد /moʕtaad/

*As Usual:* كالعادة /kal-ʕaadati/ *or* كالمعتاد /kal-moʕtaadi/

*Usually:* عادة /ʕaadatan/


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## arielipi

In hebrew you could say that we have a connection between them:
בדרך כלל bedere/x/ klal is usually (we do not have one word for usually),
habit is הרגל hergel root רגל which is used as 'normal'.
So we do not have one root but both are etymologically tied.


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## bibax

Czech:

*obvyklý, obyčejný* = usual (also common like in "common people", not "our common friend");
*obvykle, obyčejně* = usually (commonly);

*zvyk* = habit, custom;
*obyčej* = custom, traditions;

*zvyknouti, přivyknouti, uvyknouti* = to become accustomed to sth, to adapt to sth;

The root is *yk*-, *vyk-* (prothetic v) and *yč-* (k -> č before a front vowel); it is related (essentially the same) to the root *uk-, uč-* in vý*uk*a (tuition), *uč*iti (to teach), *uč*itel (teacher), etc.

(ob-, z-, při-, u- are verbal prefixes);

(*hábit*, a loanword from Latin, rarely used = habit, frock, garb);

Similarly in Russian:

об*ык*новенно (-*yk*-), об*ыч*но (-*ych*-) = usually;
прив*ыч*ка, об*ыч*ай (-*ych*-) = habit, custom;

*уч*ить, об*уч*ать (-*uch*-) = to teach;
на*ук*а (-*uk*-) = science;


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## ThomasK

But then: is there a link between showing, teaching and habit ? I am looking forward !


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## bibax

The verbs *zvykati* (= to adapt someone to something) and *učiti* (= to teach someone something) have the same original root *uk* (*yk* < *ūk is a long form of the root; *uč*,* yč*: 'k' was palatalized before front vowels). The reflexive verbs are *zvykati si* (= to adapt oneself to sth), *učiti se* (= to learn, "to teach oneself").

However the average native speaker is not aware of it.


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## ThomasK

How would you explain the root word then? Adapting?  (Thanks a lot !)


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## bibax

IE root *euk-* (zero-grade *uk-*): to be used to;

Reflexes: Scots Gaelic twig (I understand); Gothic bi-uhti (custom); Latin uk-sor (wife); Lithuanian jùnkti (to become accustomed); Armenian usanim (to learn, to become accustomed to); Sanskrit úcyati (to be accustomed), ókas (dwelling); Slavic see above;


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## ThomasK

Could you link that with tradition, what offers you a (fig.) home to live in, teaching as showing one the way (initiating) into tradition, custom... I do recognize this link between living and custom, but the link with teaching is new to me...


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## 涼宮

ThomasK said:


> There is something strange & interesting in French and English: both *habit *(clothes), *habiter *(to live), _*habitude *_(habit) have the same etymological root.
> 
> But how about your word for 'usual(ly)'?
> 
> - Dutch: *gewoonlijk*, maybe linked with _wonen _(to live, _habiter_)
> - Dutch: _*gebruikelijk*_, linked with _gebruiken _(to use)
> - English: *usual*(ly), related with _to use_



In Japanese there are no links of any kind among any of those words.

Habit (clothes)= 修道服　_shuudoufuku_ (lit: discipline + moral/road + clothing)
Habit= 習慣 _shuukan_ (lit: learn + accustomed) or 癖 _kuse_ (lit:mannerism/vice). The word _kuse_ is made of several roots: ice + wide + law/develop.
To live= 生きる _ikiru_ (to live talking about life), 住む _sumu_ (to live talking about physical location).
Usually=　普通_ futsuu_ (lit: universal/wide pass through/avenue); 大抵 _taitei_ (lit: big resist); 良く _yoku_ (lit: well)

Each kanji has several roots/words, but when you analyze them you find that they don't make sense. At least I don't get why the word habit has ice in it. The concepts of the Japanese way of thinking for writing is too strange.


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## Gavril

Finnish:

*tavallisesti* "usually, ordinarily" based on the word *tapa *"custom, habit".

Other terms for "usually" are _yleensä, yleisesti_ (based on the root seen in _yli _"above"). Another word for "habit" is _tottumus_, based on the word _tottua _"to become accustomed [to something]"


Icelandic:

*venjulega *"usually, customarily" < *venja *"habit, custom", related to the adj. _vanur _"accustomed (to sth.)"

I think the word _yfirleitt _(< yfir "over" + _leitt _, possibly from _leiða _"lead") is more common for the meaning "usually"than _venjulega, _which may (I'm not sure about this) have a stronger implication of people "normally doing" something, rather than something "normally happening".


Welsh:

*yn arfer *"usually" contains *arfer* "custom, habit"

Another, possibly more common expression for "usually" is _yn gyffredinol_, which contains the adjective _cyffredin _"common, mutual".


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## ThomasK

涼宮 said:


> In Japanese there are no links of any kind among any of those words.
> 
> Habit (clothes)= 修道服　_shuudoufuku_ (lit: *discipline *+ moral/road + clothing)
> Habit= 習慣 _shuukan_ (lit: _*learn *_+ accustomed) or 癖 _kuse_ (lit:mannerism/vice). The word _kuse_ is made of several roots: ice + wide + *law/develop.*
> To live= 生きる _ikiru_ (to live talking about life), 住む _sumu_ (to live talking about physical location).
> Usually=　普通_ futsuu_ (lit: universal/wide pass through/avenue); 大抵 _taitei_ (lit: big resist); 良く _yoku_ (lit: well)


Well, I beg to disagree ;-). I mean that one _habit _refers to discipline, and the other to learning. I think those have some in common, don't they? 
The _live _translations are quite interesting, but I'd love to hear more about what you mean by 'to live talking about', or do you mean: to live, referring to? 

The kanji: if there's a good site giving background about such things, please tell me!



Gavril said:


> Finnish:
> *tavallisesti* "usually, ordinarily" based on the word *tapa *"custom, habit".
> Other terms for "usually" are _yleensä, yleisesti_ (based on the root seen in _yli _"*above*"). Another word for "habit" is _tottumus_, based on the word _tottua _"to become accustomed [to something]"
> 
> Icelandic:
> *venjulega *"usually, customarily" < *venja *"habit, custom", related to the adj. _vanur _"accustomed (to sth.)"
> I think the word _yfirleitt _(< yfir "over" + _leitt _, possibly from _leiða _"lead") is more common for the meaning "usually"than _venjulega, _which may (I'm not sure about this) have a stronger implication of people "normally doing" something, rather than something "normally happening".
> 
> Welsh:
> *yn arfer *"usually" contains *arfer* "custom, habit"
> Another, possibly more common expression for "usually" is _yn gyffredinol_, which contains the adjective _cyffredin _*"common, mutual*".



The references to 'above', 'lead', are intriguing. The reference to 'common' reminds me of '(in-)general', DUT 'in het algemeen' (al-gemeen,all-common), something like: what everyone mostly does, I suppose.


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## 涼宮

ThomasK said:


> Well, I beg to disagree ;-). I mean that one _habit _refers to discipline, and the other to learning. I think those have some in common, don't they?
> The _live _translations are quite interesting, but I'd love to hear more about what you mean by 'to live talking about', or do you mean: to live, referring to?
> 
> The kanji: if there's a good site giving background about such things, please tell me!



No, the word habit referring to discipline makes sense, but I was talking about the root of each kanji itself, not the word, that's what often makes no sense.
The kanji for discipline 修 is made of the roots 人、亻 which mean man/person/human, person respectively (it has another root meaning person, too, but WR doesn't display the kanji). So, even though discipline does indeed have to do with people I don't find very logical some roots, like the case of ''ice'' in the word habit. In that very word _kuse_, its root 辟 has the word 辛 which means bitter (this make sense). But perhaps it has ice in it because they associate that with the heart or something, as_ kuse_ usually means a bad habit. 


If the website you're talking about you mean one which tells you the meaning of each kanji individually, then you may use this dictionary: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

Go to the section that says ''kanji look up'' and paste the kanji you want. However, as for a deeper kanji breakdown I use a program specialized at kanji; that's not online. The program is called JavaDiKt. It comes in Spanish but you can put it in English (which is better) and tickle the option to increase the kanji repertoire so that it doesn't look up only in the basic list of 2136 kanji that people must learn. The English version is the one that has more meanings, so I use that one by default.


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## ThomasK

I am seeing something, not the whole picture. _(I am sorry, I seem to have been mistaken!!! I know though: I suffer from wishful thinking and then jumping to conclusions...)_


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## aruniyan

ThomasK said:


> There is something strange & interesting in French and English: both *habit *(clothes), *habiter *(to live), _*habitude *_(habit) have the same etymological root.
> 
> But how about your word for 'usual(ly)'?
> 
> - Dutch: *gewoonlijk*, maybe linked with _wonen _(to live, _habiter_)
> - Dutch: _*gebruikelijk*_, linked with _gebruiken _(to use)
> - English: *usual*(ly), related with _to use_




in Tamil

_*pazhakkam*_ : Habit,   from the root of _*pazhaku*_(acquaintance, practice), i do not see any words related with clothing..  
_*vazhakkam*_ : Usual (way), from the root of _*vazhangu*_ (presentation, to give). 

live, life - _*Vaal*_
Clothing - *uduppu, udukkai*(covered)


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## ThomasK

I'm just wondering: _vazh_- and _pazh_- as such are related, I suppose (_p/v_). But indeed, no link with the others, so it seems. Do you have other words related with _*pazh/vazh*, _derivations, or compounds having very different (metaphorical) meanings?


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## Ghabi

涼宮 said:


> In that very word _kuse_, its root 辟 has the word 辛 which means bitter (this make sense). But perhaps it has ice in it because they associate that with the heart or something, as_ kuse_ usually means a bad habit.


Hi! You've confounded the idea of character (kanji) and word. くせ is a native Japanese word, and it's represented by the character 癖 only because in Chinese 癖 also represents a word meaning "bad habit/addiction" (Cantonese: pik1 癖). _kuse_ (Japanese) and _pik1_ (Chinese) have no etymological connections.

You've also misinterpreted the construction of the character 癖, which is a typical semantic-phonetic character, made up of the semantic part 疒 (indicating "sickness") and the phonetic part 辟 (Cantonese: pik1). 癖 has nothing to do with 辛 (the phonetic indicator is 辟 as a whole), and I'm not sure what you mean by "ice". Your interpretation of 修 is also incorrect (it actually consists of the semantic part 彡 and the phonetic part 攸).

When you want to investigate the etymology of a native Japanese word, you should look at its pronunciation, not its kanji.


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## ThomasK

Nowl let's try to look back at the issue itself: can you from your point of view find links between the equivalents of my words in Cantonese or... ? _(BTW: I just read somewhere that writing in Chinese somehow came before the ... [talking ?]. But that does not make sense, I suppose...) _


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## arielipi

ThomasK said:


> Could you link that with tradition, what offers you a (fig.) home to live in, teaching as showing one the way (initiating) into tradition, custom... I do recognize this link between living and custom, *but the link with teaching is new to me*...



In hebrew the root i used also is used for something you can see as 'teaching', הרגיל hirgil (made one get) used (to); is some kind of teaching.


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## ThomasK

That might be interesting, but could you explain /hirgil/ by means of an example?


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## arielipi

המורה הרגיל את התלמידים לשבת במקום בלי לזוז
hamore hirgil et hatalmidim lashevet bamakom bli lazuz
the teacher accustomed the students to sit without moving(=sit idle).

המאלף הרגיל את הכלב לעשות את צרכיו בחוץ
hame'alef hirgil et hacelev la'asot et tzra/x/av ba/x/utz
the trainer(? one who trains dogs) taught/accustomed the dog to do his things outside( of the house, poopie!).


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## ThomasK

I see: something like training, raising some kind of conditional reflex, I guess, some automatism. Interesting to look at learning as adopting certain automatisms, which is one way of looking at it.


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## arielipi

In hebrew if someone hirgil or if one was hurgal(the passive form) it is perceived as a bad thing.
We actually do not see hergel as something that was taught rather as something that one got used to.
We have several words for teaching each with its own connotation but thats for another thread.


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## 涼宮

Ghabi said:


> Hi! You've confounded the idea of character (kanji) and word. くせ is a native Japanese word, and it's represented by the character 癖 only because in Chinese 癖 also represents a word meaning "bad habit/addiction" (Cantonese: pik1 癖). _kuse_ (Japanese) and _pik1_ (Chinese) have no etymological connections.
> 
> You've also misinterpreted the construction of the character 癖, which is a typical semantic-phonetic character, made up of the semantic part 疒 (indicating "sickness") and the phonetic part 辟 (Cantonese: pik1). 癖 has nothing to do with 辛 (the phonetic indicator is 辟 as a whole), and I'm not sure what you mean by "ice". Your interpretation of 修 is also incorrect (it actually consists of the semantic part 彡 and the phonetic part 攸).
> 
> When you want to investigate the etymology of a native Japanese word, you should look at its pronunciation, not its kanji.



Hello, thank you for the correction. Then I had broken it down wrongly. If you split up sickness you get ice and wide, that's what I had done . However, I find it hard to do it by phonetics since they're supposed to be arbitrary, no?


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## Frank78

In German the stem of all the words is "wohn"

to live: wohnen
usual: gewöhnlich
usually: gewöhnlich
habit: Gewohnheit


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## ThomasK

ThomasK said:


> There is something strange & interesting in French and English: both *habit *(clothes), *habiter *(to live), _*habitude *_(habit) have the same etymological root.
> 
> But how about your word for 'usual(ly)'?
> 
> - Dutch: *gewoonlijk*, maybe linked with _wonen _(to live, _habiter_)
> - Dutch: _*gebruikelijk*_, linked with _gebruiken _(to use)
> - English: *usual*(ly), related with _to use_


6 Years later and a little wiser: I forgot about *custom/ accustomed* (French _coûtume_), *costume - *but no link with living, I think… However, several contributors referred to this root above.


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## Yendred

ThomasK said:


> There is something strange & interesting in French and English: both *habit *(clothes), *habiter *(to live), _*habitude *_(habit) have the same etymological root.



Yes, because all of these are things you *have* (a home, clothes, or your customs). They all come from latin _habere_ (= to have).


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## Dymn

In *Spanish *the best translation would be "_normalmente_". It's become so fixed as an expression that it can no longer mean "in a normal way", as opposed to a strange or infrequent way. For example when I turn my computer on it sometimes offers me to "_encender el ordenador normalmente_" ("turn the computer on normally") but this would describe a usual action over time, not a single instance of doing things as expected, and I find this usage very weird.


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