Linguistic Similarities?

[debka_notion]

In the course of looking for definitions of love for my latest website project (Sparked by something Efi wrote, go figure), I was just reading some random stuff online, which was talking about how one older Greek word for "to kiss" (I originally wrote "kissing", but then I'd have to match it with the same sort of verbal noun later on, and "impregnating" just sounds Odd.) fell out of use because it sounded too much like the verb "to impregnate". I seem to remember a similar issue in French. Oh you linguists out there- know you if this is a common problem? (Either having those words sound alike, or having the slang for one mean the other) Any ideas if this might have something to do with actual etymology, or just coincidence?

Comments

[belu.livejournal.com]

Not offhand, but what's the data?

[debka-notion.livejournal.com]

Here's the bit that prompted the thought:
"In the Hellenistic period, the verb kunein ("to kiss") was falling out of use because it sounded like kuein ("to impregnate"), especially in the aorist where the forms are exactly alike. This no doubt resulted in various unsavory puns. So people started to use the word filein ("to love") to refer to kissing. Then the word agapan ("to be content with") they began to use to refer to love. In the koine of the NT, both agapan and filein were in common use as words for love."

And the French for kiss is I think "besser" but it's been a while, and our French-English dictionary is currently on the lam. I don't remember the actual word for sex, so I don't remember if they sound alike or not- but to say "to kiss" is taken for "to have sex with" or something like that.

[coeus559.livejournal.com]

I remember some stuff from Historical Linguistics, but my book is not in my room right now - it's in the lab, because I brought all my books there at the end of the semester so I wouldn't have to move them. I'll get an answer to you tomorrow when I can get my book, but I do remember when we were talking about historical semantics changes and they did talk about something with words sounding like other words and then falling into disuse for that reason.

-Alex