Talk:fenek

Etymology

Superficially resembles فنك (fanak), which in English became fennec. Perhaps where I would have expected the Arabic to be "finik", a Maghrebi-dialectal 'a' was pronounced 'e'. But even then, the only things fennecs and rabbits have in common are their small size and big ears. Maybe a shift in meaning? "big-eared little furry animal" lol — [ R·I·C ] opiaterein — 20:06, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

It's not unheard of. English changed the word hound from a general word for dog to a specific class of them. Reidca 21:58, 4 November 2011 (UTC)

There's absolutely not doubt that it's from the Arabic word. First of all, the semantic shift is very slight indeed. (The German word "Meerschwein" has meant everything from "dolphin" through "porcupine" to "guinea-pig", for example. Dutch "meerkat" refers to a kind of monkey but is used in English for a mongoose.) And phonetically, Maltese "fenek" is the regular and expected outcome of Arabic "fanak". Arabic short "a" always changes into a front vowel ("e" or sometimes even "i"), unless it's in the vicinity of a uvular/pharyngeal or an original emphatic. 2.207.102.23 08:53, 22 October 2019 (UTC)