The word clock comes from the Old Irish word clocc meaning bell. This fact is brought to you to celebrate the movement of the entire continent of Europe one hour closer to North America this weekend! tis not the work of superman or of giant tug boats but an imaginary yet real movement is about to occur as quite a few countries in the northern hemisphere turn the clock back by one hour. Europeans will have gained an extra hour upon waking tomorrow morning but most Americans will have to wait an entire week (Nov 3). The word clock travelled first with Irish missionaries into the Old High German language as glocka, klocka (whence modern German Glocke) and then into English via Flemish. From the early middle ages the Irish were the masters in the field of technical chronology. Dr Immo Warntjes, University of Greifswald, Germany, explains ‘The earliest known textbook on the reckoning of time was discovered in 2006 in the Benedictine monastery of Einsiedeln in the Swiss Alps. It was clearly composed by an Irishman c. AD 700 and is evidence of the supremacy of Irish learning at that time. Besides other highly original features, this Latin text contains the oldest list of numerals written in the Irish language.’ Dr. Leofranc Holford-Strevens, of the Oxford University Press and author of The History of Time, a very short introduction [Oxford 2005] says Since in the 7th century the leading experts on the computus [Technical Chronology] were the Irish. See also: Kluge, F. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (1989) Image: A medieval Irish round tower at Glendalough. Their name in Irish is Cloig-teach or bell-house.
Posted on: Sat, 26 Oct 2013 09:39:17 +0000
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