Talk:lower

Pronunciation (homographs)

Apparently, if the word means something related to 'low', it is pronounced with a 'doe' sound, while if it is the verb to lower as in, to cast dark shadows or to frown, it is pronounced with a 'shower' sound.zigzig20s 20:43, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

Etymology: meanings #2 v. #3

The etymology for meaning 2 ("to let descend" etc) was given as: "Old English lowren, luren; See Dutch loeren, Late German luren. German lauern "to lurk", "to be on the watch", and English leer, lurk.", and had an rfe comment saying it was confusing.

I believe this should actually have been the etymology for meaning 3 (alt. spelling of "lour": to be dark/gloomy/threatening), so I swapped them round and removed the 'confusing' comment. Hv 10:29, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I wish I understand more about how verbs formed from adjectives. "lower" seems a little non-standard its derivation. It is not based on -er as in flutter, clamber et al. It isn't derived from a middle english verb *loweren because no one seems to think that ever existed. It is a little like "further", but that has OE verb origins. It is a little like "better" or "lighter". Other examples of this kind of formation? DCDuring TALK 03:45, 2 October 2008 (UTC)