This book represents a reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic vocabulary as attested in ancient and modern Germanic languages and projected to the Proto-Germanic level. The volume contains valuable linguistic information giving an outline of Proto-Germanic language, culture and pre-historic tradition. It is the first attempt to reconstruct the Proto-Germanic lexicon after the work of Falk and Torp in the beginning of the XXth century.
Excerpt from An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language ON the completion of the present work, it is to me a pleasant duty to express my thanks to all those who have rendered its execution possible, and have helped to give it its new shape. I might have mentioned, under the separate words, those scholars who have discovered any etymological data bearing upon the vocabulary of our mother tongue; the vast extent of etymological literature deterred me, however, from doing so. There is no Teutonic scholar or linguist of any repute who has not by his researches either helped to determine the etymology of some German word or actually settled it. It would have been an extremely toilsome and yet useless task to give the name of the discoverer of the etymology of each word and how frequently have several scholars at the same time deserved credit for clearing up the history of a word. 0. Schade, in his Old German Dictionary, has with untiring industry collected materials from the copious literature for the older period, and has received the thanks of specialists. I could not expect that those who may use my book would wade through the numerous errors and occasional imperfections of scientific investigation in order to form their own opinion on the evolution of particular words. By foregoing such a plan I obtained space, in spite of the limited compass to which this book was confined, to describe pretty fully the actual development of the word itself. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Dictionaries usually give only brief treatment to etymologies and even etymological dictionaries often do not lavish on them the attention which many deserve. To help fill the gap, the author deals in depth with several etymologically problematic words in various Germanic, Jewish, Romance, and Slavic languages, all of which have hitherto either been misetymologized or not etymologized at all. Sometimes, he succeeds in cracking the nut. Sometimes, he is able only to clear away misunderstanding and set the stage for further treatment. Usually, he marshals not only linguistic but also historical and cultural information. Since this book also discusses methodology, it has the makings of an introduction to the science, art, and craft of etymology. David L. Gold is the founder of the Jewish Name and Family Name File, the Jewish English Archives, and the Association for the Study of Jewish Languages, as well as the editor of Jewish Language Review and Jewish Linguistic Studies.
Robert Claiborne gives readers a short history of the English language to show how most of the words we use today evolved from a single taproot language called Indo-European. This book is a must for all word buffs and language lovers; an intelligent and uniquely accessible examination of our vocabulary by a recognized authority.
This practical introduction to word history investigates every aspect of where words come from and how they change. Philip Durkin, chief etymologist of the Oxford English Dictionary, shows how different types of evidence can shed light on the myriad ways in which words change in form and meaning. He considers how such changes can be part of wider linguistic processes, or be influenced by a complex mixture of social and cultural factors. He illustrates every point with a wide range of fascinating examples. Dr Durkin investigates folk etymology and other changes which words undergo in everyday use. He shows how language families are established, how words in different languages can have a common ancester, and the ways in which the latter can be distinguished from words introduced through language contact. He examines the etymologies of the names of people and places. His focus is on English but he draws many examples from languages such as French, German, and Latin which cast light on the pre-histories of English words. The Oxford Guide to Etymology is reliable, readable, instructive, and enjoyable. Everyone interested in the history of words will value this account of an endlessly fascinating subject.
Most of us know of the Indo-European roots of European languages, but how did this precursor language take hold and what did Europe look like before it did so? This book explores the continent before the spread of the Indo-Europeans, examines its indigenous population and the contacts it had with Indo-European and Uralic immigrants, and, ultimately, asks how these origins led to the development of that crucial singularity for Europe’s languages. Drawing on archaeology, religious studies, and palaeography, the contributors offer a detailed and comprehensive picture of Europe’s linguistic and, in turn, cultural prehistory.
The first comprehensive overview of the structure of modern Germanic languages. Written by a team of internationally-renowned experts, it is a vital resource for students and researchers investigating the Germanic family of languages and dialects, covering key topics such as phonology, morphology, syntax, heritage and minority languages.
