From Felix Schafer (20 October 1957)

From Karl Polanyi
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[35] Dear Ilona and Karl,

Above all our most sincere good wishes to your birthday Karl. I must apology for sending … […] and studies Maori language

[36] and anthropology. She finds affinities between Polynesian, Indo-european and Semitic, as they appear in particular Maori, Sanskrit and Hebrew. Of course the same root may have in these languages different meanings changed by the circumstance of time and place. This is where your book comes in for her. You say e.g. that antiquity had no special concept of economy. Comparison of languages confirms this. For instance OIKOS can be traced in words which show that economy was embedded “in a complexity of non economic institutions". Thus we find the root OIK in OIKEI- friends, relatives; OIKOPHELES – beneficial for the family, OIKOPHYLAKEO – to guard the home; OIKODOMIA – building, edification, divine knowledge, education. These words express non economic institutions such as family, protection etc. Their relation to OIKOS - economy … […]

Felix Adele

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Reference:
KPA: 58/10, 34-36