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Qanat

en.wikipedia.org

1–10 of 70 posts

Re: Qanat

#5
As a sometimes Scrabble player, I was familiar with the word and I knew it was some kind of aqueduct. It's nice to know more. Amazing that ancient people not only knew to make them, but that they could pull it off. This must have been no small engineering feat.

Re: Qanat

#6
post #3

There is also this video about Qanats in Iran: https://www.facebook.com/32848633159/videos/1015351116587816... Sorry for the fb link, could not find it in YouTube

The section of the wikipedia article on qanat's in Iran is huge (3700 words) in general, and especially compared to the sections about qanats in other countries. Between that and this video on qanats in Iran; what makes them so much more important/studied/etc.? Is it just that they were invented there?

Re: Qanat

#7
post #4

Is there an etymological link between "qanāt" and "canal"?

It's the exact same thing. For example, Suez Canal is called "Qanat al-Suez" in Arabic.

That doesn't answer the GP's question of whether there's an etymological link. That is, are the two words derived from the same root in some ancient language? It is a reasonable question since they are phonologically similar, but from different language families.

Re: Qanat

#10
post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the exact same thing. For example, Suez Canal is called "Qanat al-Suez" in Arabic.

That doesn't answer the GP's question of whether there's an etymological link. That is, are the two words derived from the same root in some ancient language? It is a reasonable question since they are phonologically similar, but from different language families.

And just because two words sound similar doesn't mean they have similar roots. The word for “dog” in the Australian Aboriginal language Mbabaram happens to be “dog,” not because they have the same root but by coincidence.

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=UtFqXQosVP0C&pg=PT283&lp...

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