Lemizh / English dictionary

krytfokà.

to make Antarctic

krytfokàr. Antarctica

Etymology

gender change of
  ModLem kryt‑fokèj. ‘seal hunter’, compound of
  ModLem kràt. ‘hunt’
< NLem, LMLem, MLem kart‑a
< OLem kart‑
< PLem *kars‑ ‘run’, root present of
< PIE *k̑ers‑
 —and—
  ModLem fokàj. ‘seal’, poststem from plural of
< NLem fok‑a
< LMLem fòk‑yr
< Koi φώκ‑η
< SHell *phṓk‑ā, of unknown origin

Continents are usually named after people who live there or who have discovered them (see darawà.). However, as no consensus could be reached about which nation landed on Antarctica first, it was finally named after the seal hunters who travelled the Southern Ocean early on. Gender change gave the word a ‘female’ poststem, in line with the other continents’ names.

Cognates

Lat currō ‘run’