Jos, I think I've read about that in Charles Berlitz's Native Tongues. If I remember correctly the common origin of those languages might explain the similarity. I'm not sure whether is has something to do with time measurement. As far as I know Romans and Jews kept four watches or vigils during the night.
Hope it helps, Dan Uza Romania On Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 10:08 PM, Jos Kint <jos.k...@telenet.be> wrote: > Dear all, > > What do you think about the following coincidence : > Eight verus night in English, huit versus nuit in French, ocho versus > noche in Spanish, acht versus nacht in Dutch and in German, otto versus > notte in Italian, octa versus noctem in Latin, > what might be the reason that in so many languages *eigh*t and *night* > sound so similar? Might there be some connection with time keeping in the > old days? > > Jos Kint, Belgium > > > > > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > > >
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