Lemizh / English dictionary

ràc.

to make points / an area to the right of something-nom (see unit 12, Temporal and spatial verbs)

recxnÌ., rÌc. south (symbol: r)
rilckexnÌ., rilckÌ. north (symbol: X)

Usage notes

Right-handed men used to carry their swords on the left, which gave rise to the custom of letting the lady walk on the right-hand side so as not to ruin her dress when drawing. Curiously, the ‘male’ poststem of rÌc. and the ‘female’ one of the opposite rilckÌ. have not been able to change this tradition.

Likewise, it is not socially acceptable for the man to walk too far away from the lady, nor to walk between two ladies, despite the gender change of these words.

Etymology

gender change of
< NLem Ur‑a
< LMLem, MLem Ur‑yr
< OLem ür‑
< PLem *ūr‑, r-stem adjective of
< PIE *u̯eg̑‑ ‘lively, strong’

Many languages derive their words for the direction ‘right’ from the idea that the right hand is the ‘correct’ or the ‘strong’ one. Gender change occurred to avoid homophony with the numeral rà..

Cognates

Eng wake, vigour (via Lat vigeō ‘thrive, flourish’); however, none of the original sounds is left in the present-day word: both r and c come from the PIE adjectival suffix -r-.