Getting to the Root </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 7:14 PM on Thursday, April 19, 2007

Getting to the Root

By SERGE LECOMTE

Pacific halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis) was classified in 1904 by P. J. Schmidt. Hippo means horse, glossus means tongue, steno means narrow and lepis means scale. A fish with narrow scales looking like a tongue moving like a swift steed.

The term halibut, however, has been around for hundreds of years. In Danish it's a "helle-flyndre" or holy flounder; in German, it's a "heiligbut." The Old English Dictionary tells us that "hali" means holy and the "but" part comes from Middle Dutch meaning flatfish. Halibut was considered holy because it was eaten during fasting and certain religious holidays. In Norwegian it's a "kveite" (white one). Halibut and salmon were carved into rocks 6,000 years ago by Scandinavian hunters (fishermen) and given a place of reverence.

The Atlantic halibut (Hippoglossus hippoglossus) catalogued by Linnaeus in 1758 is thought to be the same species as the Pacific halibut. Russian halibut is "paltus," mispelled from the Greek "platus" for the flatfish, plaice.

Dr. Serge Lecomte graduated from Vanderbilt University with a degree in linguistics. He taught Russian and Spanish at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He has lived in the Homer area since 1999 and writes plays and novels for fun.

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