Capitulate: Lowering the Head

The word meanings are encoded in human brain by the non-living and living physical world content and its actions, included actions into the physical artificial world made by humans as a part of it. The complex relationships of the two physical world actions shaped first word meanings and with the language use of them by speaker-listeners in group affected concrete actions. Two processes were happening and took place simultaneously and they were in a space-time unity because the biological instinctive purpose to intend to achieve the surviving which created them does not logically have any priority to their space-time content. Speak to find a food and eat it. Speak when predators are coming and escape. It is like a breath: two very distinctive elements, the spoken sounds and the physically actions worked as a system for only one purpose. First human generations created meanings pressured by biological instinctive needs of food and surviving.

What occurred in the words with their first functional meanings in their usage though time? Did they change over time? Was their change minimal?

The logical sense of a word is its basic functional meaning. Words have a fundamentally different status in the semantic hierarchy. What is sure is that the words did not remain constant as a number during their evolution.

We know that Caput, Capitis are the Latin words for head. The Caput’s diminutive is capitulum which is the base for capitulate. Capitulum means “heading’, however is not clear why its meaning gave capitulate. The current “Capitulate” meaning is to stop fighting in a war and agrees to what your enemy wants usually because he is stronger than you, or to stop opposing what someone wants and agree to it.

Why it is related with “heading” concept?
We may think when a person, or a military capitulate they surrender under various “headings’ of the agreement, however it is not semantically clear to us which “headings” Romans exactly meant and which gave a new meaning.
Capitulate is a derived noun, but it has a new meaning. The entire new form changed completely the first meaning for head. In fact, the new word is not a simple amalgamates in a higher level function of the old word Caput. Capitulate Semantically it is a new word, but it is not a new unity.

Some new words were made using two ways:

a) Amalgamating older words and their meanings to new functions.

b) Creating completely new words by new points of views of physical world source, particularly the new artificial world in endless construction by humans.

In the process of making something that was not made before which was at the same time a process of learning that was not known before for Humans. There was a parallel language development: new constructions, new things, new verbs, new nouns, and new meanings to describe new events-phenomenons which were not in existence before. When there is linguistically  a need for a new word people have a universal tendency to make them, same as in our days.

I’m taking two functions: a A, a function from “head” to “heading” , and the new meaning given by B, a function from A to “capitulate”, a new completely different meaning::

A=(head>heading)

B=(head>heading)(?)

One language element is missing there. Which is it? Is there a body language, a signal that we still use today which has the same meaning as a sign of defeat. It seems to me that it is “lowering the head” body language sign. It is the function A from “head” to "heading" , and the function B from "head heading" to “lowering”of body language, two older language elements, regardless they come form different language sources, one is from spoken language, tho other one from the body language. A very important logical point is that they both carry meanings which gave the function B “lowering the head”. There is a “lowering the head” as a meaning, but there should be also the language concrete element inside the word Capitulate that may represent that meaning. Is it the “ul” particle?



What does *ul mean? Are there any languages which can tell us the semantic of this very small language particicle? I tried to find it in Latin, Ancient Greek, etc, but it was nowhere to be found. It exists only in Albanian as a verb.



English Senses for the Albanian verb *Ul:

UL

I. Logical sense:

to move something down from a higher position, to reduce something in number, amount, value, or strength..

*Ul koken 'to bend your head forwards so that you are looking down'

.II. Semantic senses:

1. Active:

a) to defeat a place or group of people and force them to obey you

b) to deliberately make someone seems less important.

2. Passive:

a) surrender (verb), give yourself up.

b) to deign-accepting something that they do not want, or not willing, to let someone to do what they asked to do

Capitulate combines two old words to create a new word. Capitulate is a compound of the noun capitus plus the verb ul. Interesting is the fact that the verb ul does not exist in Latin and ancient Greek. Ul exist only in Albanian. That simply means that Latin borrowed it from old Albanian language. It is simply formed as a compound: a person or group of people, who lost  a battle after being attacked by someone, they lowering their had,a  noun as the object plus a verb as action. The language source is simply a body language which is still humans use instinctively it when similar events occur.

A lowered head in the cases of the capitulation may come from an earlier body language humans do as a result of any perceived threat.

Albanian Dictionary:

UL kal.

1. E zbres nga lart poshtë, i pakësoj lartësinë; e vë të mbështetet diku, e zbres në tokë kund. ngre, çoj. Ul flamurin. Ul aeroplanin. Ul barrën (drutë, kovën). Ul vigun (tezgën). Ul shportën në shesh. Ul dorezën e telefonit. Ul përdhe (përtokë).

2. Përkul teposhtë, anoj ose var pjerrtas; e drejtoj poshtë; kund. Ngre. Ul kokën. Ul kurrizin (shpatullat). Ul vetullat. Ul duart (krahët, grushtin). Ul degët. Ul strehën e kapelës. Ul sytë (vështrimin).

3. E kaloj nga qëndrimi pingul në gjendje të shtrirë; e bëj të shtrihet teposhtë diçka që është e kapur nga njëra anë, lëshoj; kund. ngre, çoj. Ul kapakun. Ul perden. Ul jakën e palltos. Ul mëngët. Ul pëlhurat e barkës mbledh velat.

4. E bëj të rrijë; të vë të rrijë diku. E uli në karrige (në tryezë). E uli në prehër. E uli në gjunjë. E uli në karrocë (në veturë). E uli pranë (afër) vetes.

5. E bëj më të vogël, i pakësoj madhësinë, vlerën, masën a shkallën, zvogëloj; kund. rrit; ngre. Ul temperaturën (shtypjen, trusninë). Ul ngarkesën. Ul fitilin. Ul çmimet. Ul shpenzimet (koston). Ul rrogën (pagesën). Ul qiranë. Ul shpejtësinë (ritmin). Ul prodhimin (rendimentin). Ul moshën. I ulën një notë (notën e sjelljes). Ia ulën dënimin.

6. E bëj të ndriçojë ose të dëgjohet më pak, e bëj më të ulët, dobësoj. E uli dritën (llambën). E uli zërin. Ule pak radion!

7. Pakësoj vrullin ose shkallën e shfaqjes a të zhvillimit, e bëj të bjerë, i zvogëloj forcën e dobësoj. Ul forcën (vrullin). Ul ndjeshmërinë. Ul dhembjen. Ia uli inatin (zemërimin, gjakun).

8. I pakësoj rëndësinë, cilësinë ose vlerën, e zbres në një shkallë më të ulët. E ka ulur stilin (mjeshtërinë). E ul nivelin e shfaqjes (e veprës).

9. E zbres një shkallë më poshtë në detyrë ose në përgjegjësi. E ulën në detyrë (në përgjegjësi).

10. I cenoj vetitë morale ose i zvogëloj meritat në sytë e të tjerëve; poshtëroj. Ul veten. Ul autoritetin (prestigjin). I ul nderin. E ul përpara të tjerëve (në sytë e botës). * Uli (dorëzoi, dha, hodhi, la, lëshoi) armët,~A. E uli bishtin thjeshtligj. hoqi dorë me turp nga kërkesat e tepruara, u tërhoq me turp; e uli hundën. Ul e ço (ngre) thotë vazhdimisht të njëjtën gjë. E uli flamurin hoqi dorë nga qëndresa, u dorëzua. I ka ulur flamurët libr. ka hequr dorë nga mendjemadhësia e nga krenaria e kotë, nuk mbahet më me të madh, i kanë rënë pendët. I uli (i ftohu, i shoi, i shtroi, i zbuti) gjakrat . E uli (e vuri) në gjunjë dikë shih te . E uli hundën iron. shih te HUND/Ë,~A. S'e ul hundën keq. shih te HUND/Ë,~A. Uli kokën (kryet) a) u nënshtrua, u përul;

b) u bind, u shtrua, nuk kundërshtoi;

c) e ndjen veten ngushtë; u turpërua

d) hoqi dorë nga mendjemadhësia ose krenaria e kotë. Nuk e ul (nuk e kërrus, nuk e përkul) kurrizin (shpinën) edhe poh. shih te KËRRUS. Ule (përkule) mesin! shih te MES,~I. I uli pendët (puplat). E uli (e shtroi) qafën (kurrizin) . I uli ( vari) veshët shih te VESH,~I. Uli zërin (fjalët) nuk e kërkon më diçka më të madhe. Ia uli (ia zbuti) zërin e detyroi të bëjë lëshime, e detyroi të ulë kërkesat e veta. Uli kokën (kryet) në punë u shtrua mirë për të punuar, punoi pa fjalë, pa nxjerrë kërkesa të tepërta. Ka ulur pak hundën, por ka ngritur sqepin iron. s’ka hequr dorë nga krenaria e kotë, vazhdon të mbahet më të madh përpara të tjerëve.