Marcie Sundaram
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alliterative.bsky.social
Marcie Sundaram
@alliterative.bsky.social
1.7K followers 250 following 1K posts
Interdisciplinarian, historical linguist, philologist, medievalist; I make videos & podcasts about words, history, and literature. Married to @AvenSarah. She/her
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alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "stream" and "rhythm".

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #stream #rhythm

youtube.com/shorts/upLX8...
Stream/Rhythm #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
December 10, 2025 at 4:46 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is RUDOLPH/WOLF #wotd #Rudolph #wolf #RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer
#Christmas #Christmas2025 #Xmas
As it turns out, all of the other reindeer probably should have been shunning Rudolph, as he seems to be a wolf in reindeer’s clothing. The name of that most famous reindeer of all, Rudolph, literally means “famous-wolf”, the -olph part related to the word wolf, a common Germanic name element found in the name of the hero Beowulf, and the first part from Germanic hruod “fame, glory”, also a Germanic name element also found in the name Roger, literally “famous spear”.
December 8, 2025 at 4:55 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
Far too many food pics in my camera roll to choose from, so here’s the most recent, the shrimp-filled ice bowl I made for this year’s cocktail party
#SundayPixMemorableFood
Ice bowl with wildflowers frozen in the clear ice, filled with shrimp
December 7, 2025 at 7:50 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
December 5, 2025 at 11:21 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
December 5, 2025 at 11:21 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "vital" and "quick". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #vital #quick
youtube.com/shorts/-ZGI9...
Vital/Quick #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
December 3, 2025 at 5:20 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is ADVENT/DIABETES #wotd #advent #diabetes #diabetic #AdventCalendar
Many people are enjoying their chocolate-filled Advent calendars right now, but of course those who are diabetic have to make sure they don’t eat too many sugary treats. Advent, the period preceding Christmas, in reference to the “coming” of Christ, first appeared in English as aduent in late Old English, coming from Latin adventus “a coming, approach, arrival”, with specific reference in Church Latin to “the coming of the Savior”, and is the past participle of the Latin verb advenire “to arrive at, come to”, made up from ad “to, toward” (from Proto-Indo-European *ad- “to, near, at”) + venire “to come”, from *gw(e)m-yo-, a suffixed variant form of the PIE root *gwa- “to go, come”. PIE *gw- typically becomes v- in Latin, pronounced [w], but in Greek this consonant went a number of different ways such as b, d, or g, so *gwa- produced the Greek verb bainein “to go, walk, step”, which, when combined with the prefix dia- “through” (probably from PIE *dwo- “two”), produced the verb diabainein “to pass through” and the Late Greek noun diabetes, literally “a passer-through, siphon”. The 2nd c. CE Greek physician Aretaeus the Cappadocian first used the term diabetes to refer to the disease because of its chief symptom “excessive discharge of urine”.
December 1, 2025 at 7:40 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
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alliterative.bsky.social Marcie Sundaram @alliterative.bsky.social · 19d
Check out my new single “If This Is Love”, a song I wrote when I was a teenager but recently recorded! Available on all the platforms: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/... #newsong #newsingle #music
November 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
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November 28, 2025 at 11:46 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
November 28, 2025 at 11:45 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "inept" and "couple".

youtube.com/shorts/4RR2F...

#etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #inept #apt #couple
Inept/Couple #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:08 AM
Reposted by Marcie Sundaram
wombat37.bsky.social
Here we go... Look out for the full video of me as my character, Cleaveskull, coming soon. Please repost this with wild abandon, and pre-order the book. Paperback pre-orders should be along before too long.
November 25, 2025 at 9:09 AM
alliterative.bsky.social
The #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is THANK/THINK/THOUGHT #wotd #Thanksgiving #thank #think #thought #thankful #thoughtful
Thanksgiving is traditionally a time to be thankful, but it should also be a time to be thoughtful of the colonialist foundation of the holiday. The words thank, thanks, and thankful come from Old English þancian “to thank, reward”, þanc “thought, grateful though, gratitude”, and þancful “thoughtful, ingenious, clever; grateful, contented” respectively. So thank is basically the same as the word think, and thankful is basically the same as the word thoughtful, and all these words can all be traced back to the Proto-Indo-European root *tong- “to think, feel”. The sense progression here is basically from “thinking, remembering” to “remembering fondly, thinking of with gratitude”, so maybe instead of focusing on thanksgiving we should be focusing on thoughtgiving.
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
Check out my new single “If This Is Love”, a song I wrote when I was a teenager but recently recorded! Available on all the platforms: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/... #newsong #newsingle #music
November 22, 2025 at 11:38 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
Now available on your favorite platform: “If This Is Love”. Check it out! distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
November 22, 2025 at 3:45 AM
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ICYMI
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
ICYMI
November 21, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Reposted by Marcie Sundaram
wombat37.bsky.social
And here it is! Book One of The Summer Realm Trilogy, a dark steampunk fantasy - Agents of Secrets and Lies.

I also have a pre-order link for you.

mybook.to/SRAgents

Discounted price for pre-orders & first 24hrs of release.

The paperback pre-order link will be here later. #SummerRealm

💙📚👀📢📚
Amazon.com
mybook.to
November 21, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Reposted by Marcie Sundaram
alliterative.bsky.social
Check it out!
November 20, 2025 at 10:45 PM
Reposted by Marcie Sundaram
alliterative.bsky.social
New song coming soon! My new single “If This Is Love”, written over three decades ago but newly recorded, is about to drop on all your favourite platforms! Watch this space: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
November 20, 2025 at 10:45 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
New song coming soon! My new single “If This Is Love”, written over three decades ago but newly recorded, is about to drop on all your favourite platforms! Watch this space: distrokid.com/hyperfollow/...
November 20, 2025 at 10:45 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
The surprisingly connected origins of "wind" and "air". #etymology #wordnerd #linguistics #HistoricalLinguistics #language #words #lingcomm #wind #air

youtube.com/shorts/_4ttJ...
Wind/Air #Etymology
YouTube video by Alliterative
youtube.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:20 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
November 21st is #NationalCranberryDay so the #ConnectedAtBirth #etymology of the week is CRANBERRY/GERANIUM #wotd #cranberry #geranium #Thanksgiving #CranberryDay
The cranberry and geranium plants aren't related botanically, but etymologically they are! The cran in cranberry comes from low German kraan “crane” because of the resemblance of the flower’s stamen to the bird’s bill. The bird’s name comes from Proto-Indo-European *gere- “to cry hoarsely” because of its call. This led to the Greek name for the bird geranos “crane” and thence to geranium from the resemblance of the plant’s seed pod to the bird’s bill.
November 17, 2025 at 6:10 PM
alliterative.bsky.social
Check out my new single "Interesting Times" distributed by #DistroKid and live on Deezer! www.deezer.com/album/842105...
Interesting Times
Mark Sundaram - album - 2025 - 1 song
www.deezer.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:57 AM
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alliterative.bsky.social Marcie Sundaram @alliterative.bsky.social · Nov 9
New cover song! My version of “Mess Around” originally performed by Ray Charles! Check out the full song here: youtu.be/TKuv17boF4w?...
November 14, 2025 at 11:23 PM