tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47681303351879726222024-02-20T19:05:56.366-08:00MittaniHeidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-58726118796660588802021-06-05T11:51:00.001-07:002021-06-05T13:09:50.208-07:00Stille Feiung <p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;">Dem
Ausdruck </span><i>stille Feiung </i><span style="font-style: normal;">begegnete
ich zum ersten Mal, als P</span>rof. Drosten in seinem Podcast
beschrieb, wie Menschen durch eine vorhergegangene unerkannte
Infektion vor einer Ansteckung mit einem Krankheitserreger geschützt
sein können. </span>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Das
Nomen <i>Feiung </i>sprach mich
durch seine Altertümlichkeit an, es erinnerte mich an den
gebräuchlicheren Ausdruck <i>gefeit sein</i>,
und meine Neugierde war geweckt.</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Ich
versuchte herauszufinden, woher <i>Feiung</i>
kommt und was seine sprachlichen Vorfahren sind. Dafür bin ich in
die Vergangenheit der deutschen Sprache und einiger mit ihr
verwandter Sprachen eingetaucht:</span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Feiung</i>
wird offenbar ganz vorwiegend in Verbindung mit dem adjektivischen
Attribut <i>still</i> und fast ausschließlich als medizinischer
Fachausdruck gebraucht. Sehr selten findet es sich in bildlicher
Bedeutung in zeitgenössischenTexten, doch nur in solchen der
gehobenen Standardsprache:</span></p>
<p style="background: transparent; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">„<span>Katzenschatten,
stille Feiung gegen das Glück“ (Die Zeit, 29.12.1972, Nr. 52, in
<span style="color: black;">WDS-Wortprofil
für „Feiung“, erstellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der
deutschen Sprache, <https://www.dwds.de/wp/Feiung>, abgerufen
am 24.05.2021.).</span></span></span></p>
<p style="background: transparent; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Stille
Feiung</i> kommt außerhalb des medizinischen Bereichs so selten vor,
dass das digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache gerade einmal
drei Textbelege für einen nichtmedizinischen Zusammenhang anführt.</span></p>
<p style="background: transparent; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><i>Stille
Feiung</i> ist auch für medizinische Laien unmittelbar verständlich,
weil wir es mit dem allgemein gebräuchlichen <i>gefeit sein</i>
(gegen oder vor etwas) verknüpfen können.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Wir
hoffen vor Krankheit, seelischer Verletzung und Gefahren aller Art
geschützt und sicher, vor ihnen oder gegen sie <i>gefeit </i>zu sein<span style="color: black;">
</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;">(vgl.
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">gefeit</span></i></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache,
<https://www.dwds.de/wb/gefeit>, abgerufen am 24.05.2021.).</span></span></span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Woher
stammt das der Form <i>gefeit</i> zugrundeliegende Verb <i>feien</i>,
von dem <i>Feiung</i> abgeleitet ist? Außer in <i>gefeit sein</i>
wird dieses Verb in der Gegenwartssprache selten und ähnlich wie
<i>Feiung</i> nur in gehobenen Kontexten gebraucht <span style="color: black;">(</span><span style="color: black;"><i>feien</i></span><span style="color: black;">,
bereitgestellt durch das Digitale Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache,
<https://www.dwds.de/wb/feien>, abgerufen am 24.05.2021).</span></span></p>
<p style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Über
seine Herkunft findet sich folgender Eintrag:</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;">„</span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><b>feien</b></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>
</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Vb.
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>‘</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(durch
Feenkraft) unangreifbar, immun machen’, fast nur im Part. Prät.
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><b>gefeit</b></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>
</b></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>‘</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">geschützt,
unempfindlich’. Nach dem Vorbild von gleichbed. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>Frz.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i>
f</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">ée</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">r</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>afrz.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">faer</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
zu </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>afrz.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i>f</i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">ee</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>‘</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fee’)
wird </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">feien</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Anfang
des 19. Jhs. zu </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fei</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">gebildet.
Ein bereits </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>mhd.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">bezeugtes
gleichbed. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">feinen</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
zu </span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>mhd.</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span>
</span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fei(e)</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">feine</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(s.
↗</span></span></span></span><a href="https://www.dwds.de/wb/etymwb/Fee"><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fee</span></span></u></span></span></span></a><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">),
setzt sich nicht fort (</span></span></span></span><cite><span style="color: black;"><span>„feien</span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">“,
in: Wolfgang Pfeifer et al., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen
(1993), digitalisierte und von Wolfgang Pfeifer überarbeitete
Version im Digitalen Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache,
<https://www.dwds.de/wb/etymwb/feien>, abgerufen am
24.05.2021)“.</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Wie
das Etymologische Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache erklärt, geht
das Verb </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>feien</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
auf ein seit dem Mittelalter belegtes Nomen </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Fei
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">zurück</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">.
Das deutsche Verb wurde nach dem Vorbild des französischen </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>féer</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
'feien' aus </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fee
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">gebildet</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
wobei die französischen Vorbilder </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>féer</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
und </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fee</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
bereits im Altfranzösischen (belegt ca. 9. Jhd. bis Ende 14. Jhd.)
existierten, während das deutsche </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>feien</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
laut DWDS erst im 19. Jahrhundert aus </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Fei</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
gebildet wurde.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<blockquote style="margin-left: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Woher
stammt das im Gegenwartsdeutschen nicht mehr gebräuchliche </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fei</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">?</span></span></span></span></cite></span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin-left: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fei</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
wurde in der mittelhochdeutschen Sprachperiode aus dem französischen
</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fee</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
entlehnt, und es bezeichnete wie dieses eine mit magischen Kräften
begabte Frau, deren Worten eine schicksalhafte Bedeutung
zugeschrieben wurde. </span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></blockquote>
<blockquote style="margin-left: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diesem
Nomen </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fei
</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">aber
erwuchs in der späteren neuhochdeutschen Sprachperiode Konkurrenz
durch </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fee</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
eine erneute Entlehnung aus dem französischen </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fée</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
und spätestens im 19. Jahrhundert verdrängte </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fee</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
das nunmehr als altertümlich empfundene </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fei</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></cite></span></blockquote>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Die
Bedeutung der französischen Vorbilder </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fee</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
bzw. </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fée</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
und der deutschen Entlehnungen </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fei</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
und </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fee</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
hat sich vom Mittelalter zur Neuzeit nicht wesentlich verändert, in
beiden Sprachen wird eine Frau bezeichnet, deren Worte Fluch oder
Segen bewirken. Im neuzeitlichen Märchen begegnen uns die gute und
die böse </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fee</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
deren Fluch und Segen das Schicksal der Königstochter Dornröschen
bestimmen.</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Nachdem
die Herkunft der Wortfamilie </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Feiung</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>gefeit,</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>feien</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fei
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">und
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Fee
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">geklärt
ist, wollen wir die Geschichte des französischen Nomens </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fee</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
weiter </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">in
die Vergangenheit zurückverfolgen. Die Spurensuche beruht auf
sprachhistorischer Forschung, deren Ergebnisse hier aber nur
skizzenhaft dargestellt werden können. Wer sich eingehender mit
Aspekten des Themas beschäftigen möchte, dem empfehle ich die
angegebenen wisenschaftlichen Quellen zum Einstieg.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Vorläufer
der modernen französischen Sprache sind vom 8. Jahrhundert an im
nordwestlichen Teil Frankreichs belegte altfranzösische Dialekte.
Diese wiederum sind aus lokalen volkstümlichen Varietäten des
Lateinischen, der Verkehrssprache des römischen Weltreiches
hervorgegangen. Wie ein großer Teil des französischen Wortschatzes
lässt sich das altfranzösische </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fee</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
auf das Lateinische zurückführen. Es stammt von dem Nomen </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāta</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
ab, mit dem in der römischen Kaiserzeit weise Frauen, Seherinnen (ob
diesen Frauen ursprünglich göttliche Eigenschaften zugeschrieben
wurden, konnte ich nicht sicher herausfinden) bezeichnete, deren
Verehrung wohl im volkstümlichen Glauben verwurzelt war. Die </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Faten</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
verkündeten im antiken Rom Geburt, Tod und die Lebensspanne der
Götter und Menschen, sie spannen die Schicksalsfäden, die das Leben
der Menschen durchzogen. Nach volkstümlichem Glauben wurde jedes
Kind drei Tage nach der Geburt von den </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Faten</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
(drei Schwestern: </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>tria
fatae</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">)
besucht, die zuerst über sein Weiterleben entschieden.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Das
Nomen </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāta</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
hat sich aus einer Partizip-II-Form des lateinischen Verbums </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāri</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
'sprechen, verkünden, weissagen' entwickelt. Da es sich bei </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāri</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
um ein sogenanntes Deponens handelt, also um ein Verb, das
passivische Form, aber aktivische Bedeutung hat (es bedeutet
'sprechen', nicht 'gesprochen werden'), wird </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāta
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">ursprünglich
„die, die gesprochen hat“, „diejenige, die verkündet hat“
bedeutet haben</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>.</i></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Blicken
wir in die Vergangenheit des Verbums </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fāri</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
so zeigen historisch-sprachwissenschaftliche Vergleiche mit
verwandten Verben in den Sprachen Altgriechisch und Altindisch, dass
bereits in der (nicht belegten, aber teilweise erschlossenen)
urindogermanischen Sprache, einer gemeinsamen Vorgängersprache des
Indischen, Griechischen und Lateinischen (und anderer Sprachen und
Sprachfamilien, z. B. auch des Deutschen), ein Verb *</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bheh</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><sub><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">2</span></i></span></sub></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">-
existierte, das als Ursprung von </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fāri
</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">und
mit ihm verwandter altindischer und altgriechischer Verben gilt. </span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Das
Altgriechische besitzt zwei Verben mit unterschiedlicher Bedeutung,
die wohl beide letztlich auf dieses urindogermanische *</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bheh</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><sub><span><i>2</i></span></sub></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">-
zurückgehen. Während </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>φημί</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
wie das lateinische Verb 'sprechen, sagen' bedeutet, wird das auf
denselben Ursprung zurückgehende </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>φάν
φαίνω φαίνομαι </i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">in
der Bedeutung</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
'erscheinen' verwendet.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Zu
den späten Abkömmlingen dieses Verbs </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">φαίνομαι
</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">gehört</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
übrigens das neuhochdeutsch-eurogriechische Nomen </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Phänomen</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Betrachten
wir das Altindische, dessen ältestes überliefertes Sprachzeugnis
die aus dem zweiten Jahrtausend BCE datierende Hymnensammlung des
Ṛgveda ist, finden sich hier ebenfalls zwei Verben, die auf *</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bheh</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><sub><span><i>2</i></span></sub></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">-
zurückzuführen sind, </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bhā́ti
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">'strahlt',
dessen Bedeutung also eher dem griechischen </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>φαίνομαι
'</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">erscheinen'
ähnelt, </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">und
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bhánati</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
'spricht', das semantisch dem griechischen </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>φημί</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
entspricht.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Bei
einem Vergleich der Formen der griechischen und altindischen Verben
miteinander und mit dem lateinischen Verb stellt sich heraus, dass
die beiden Bedeutungen „Leuchten“ und „Sprechen“ im
Griechischen und im Vedischen (so bezeichnet man das Altindisch des
Ṛgveda) im Verhältnis zu Lautung und Form teilweise vertauscht
sind. Im Lateinischen ist nur das eine Verb </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāri</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
„sprechen“ belegt.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Lautung
und Form / </b></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Bedeutung</b></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Formen
mit eingeschobenem -</b></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><b>n</b></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>-
nach der Wurzel:</b></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bhá-n-ati</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> (Vedisch) 'spricht'</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">φαί-ν-ω </span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Altgriechisch)
</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> 'erscheine,
zeige'</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Verbformen
ohne -</b></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><b>n</b></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>-
mit -</b></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><b>ā</b></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>-
im Auslaut der Wurzel:</b></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bhā́-ti </span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(Vedisch) 'leuchtet'</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">φη-μί</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(Altgriechisch) 'spreche'</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">fā-ri</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(Lateinisch) 'sprechen'</span></span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Die
Formen mit einem an den Verbstamm angefügten -</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>n</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">-
tragen im Altgriechischen eine Bedeutung, die sich eher aus
„leuchten“ entwickelt zu haben scheint, während das vedische
Verb </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bhánati
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
„sprechen“ bedeutet.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bei
den Verbformen, bei denen der Stamm auf -</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">ā-</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(ohne folgendes -</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">n</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">-</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)
auslautet, setzen das Lateinische und das Griechische die Bedeutung
„sprechen“ fort, während das Altindische </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bhā́</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">-
„leuchten“ bedeutet. </span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Aufgrund
historisch-sprachwissenschaftlicher Untersuchungen des Verbs wird
angenommen, dass alle hier gezeigten Verben auf éinen gemeinsamen
Ursprung in der urindogermanischen Sprache zurückgehen. Das „Lexikon
der indogermanischen Verben“ (LIV) setzt zwar aufgrund der
Bedeutungsverschiedenheit zwei ursprüngliche Verben an, erklärt
aber in einer Fußnote, dass beide wohl ursprünglich identisch waren
(LIV</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><sup><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span></span></sup></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">2001:
69, FN. 1).</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Sollten
sich die Verben mit der Grundbedeutung „leuchten, scheinen“ und
diejenigen mit der Bedeutung „sprechen, sagen“ aus einem
ursprünglichen Verb entwickelt haben, müsste sich der gemeinsame
Ausgangspunkt beider ermitteln und der semantische Zusammenhang von
„leuchten“ und „sprechen“ erklären lassen. Es wäre
herauszufinden, ob das Ursprungsverb eher „leuchten“ oder eher
„sprechen“ bedeutete; außerdem könnte man ermitteln, in welcher
Phase der Entwicklung eine Trennung der Bedeutungsstränge
stattgefunden haben könnte: noch in der urindogermanischen Sprache
oder später, auf der Ebene der schriftlich belegten
altindogermanischen Sprachen. </span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Die
Beobachtungen an den altgriechischen, vedischen und lateinischen
Verben deuten darauf hin, dass das Verb in der Zeit der Grundsprache,
vielleicht kurz vor ihrem Zerfall in Einzelsprachen, beide
Bedeutungen, „leuchten“ und „sprechen“, in éinem Verb trug.
So wäre es zu erklären, dass die Formen und Bedeutungen der
entsprechenden Verbpaare einander in Vedisch und Altgriechisch in
umgekehrter Weise zugeordnet sind (vgl. die Tabelle oben). Das
Lateinische bietet hier keinen Anhaltspunkt, da in ihm ja nur ein
Verb „sprechen“ erhalten geblieben ist.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Martin
Kümmel geht im LIV (LIV 2001: 69) davon aus, dass das Verb *</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bheh</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><sub><span><i>2</i></span></sub></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">-
ursprünglich „leuchten“ bedeutete.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Er
skizziert eine mögliche Bedeutungsentwicklung „etwa 'leuchten' →
*hell machen → *klar machen → 'sagen'“ (LIV 2001: 69) (die mit
* markierten Bedeutungen sind nicht im zugänglichen Textmaterial der
betreffenden Sprachen belegt, sondern als logisch zu ergänzende
Zwischenstufen lediglich erschlossen).</span></span></span></span></cite></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Interessant
wäre es an dieser Stelle, zu untersuchen, ob es parallele
semantische Entwicklungen bei anderen Verben des Sprechens/Sagens
gibt. Dies wäre ein Thema für eine andere, weiterführende
Betrachtung.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Beleuchtet
man den Zusammenhang der beiden altindischen Verben genauer, so
finden sich weitere mögliche Anhaltspunkte für semantische
Schnittstellen der beiden Bedeutungen „leuchten“ und „sprechen“
(vgl. „Wörterbuch des Ṛgveda“ von Hermann Grassmann: 927 und
930 f.).</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">So
wird </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bhā́</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
(verbunden mit einem Objekt im Akkusativ, häufig auch mit der
Lokalpartikel </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">ā́</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
„zu“)</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">im
</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ṛgveda
</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">in
der Bedeutung „</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">beleuchten,
bestrahlen, herscheinen“ gebraucht (vgl. Hettrich 2007: Eintrag zu
</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bhā</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">),
</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">bhánati
</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
bedeutet im Altindischen „sprechen“, aber auch „ankündigen,
anpreisen“. </span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Ein
möglicher semantischer Zusammenhang dieser zwei Verbformen w</span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">äre:
einen Lichtstrahl auf etwas richten → es ankündigen, es zeigen.
Auch der Bezug des Sprechens auf Zukünftiges (wie bei der
Schicksalsverkündung durch die </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fāten</span></i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">)
kann hier angelegt sein. Die Vorstellung, die Aufmerksamkeit des
Gegenübers durch Sprechen auf etwas zu lenken, lässt sich bildlich
mit dem Hinleuchten mit einer Lampe </span></span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">vergleichen.
</span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Natürlich
kann man vom Altindischen nicht einfach auf die semantischen
Verhältnisse in der Ursprache zurückschließen, vielmehr sollten
hier nur mögliche semantische Parallelen und Zusammenhänge
aufgezeigt werden, die in ähnlicher Weise auch in der Ursprache
gewirkt und zur Entwicklung der beiden Bedeutungsstränge des
ursprünglichen Verbs beigetragen haben könnten. </span></span></span></span></cite>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Die
Schicksalsverkünderin, die </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Fāta</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
wie</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
die </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Fee</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
die mit guten oder bösen Zauberkräften begabte Frau
mittelalterlicher Erzählungen und neuzeitlicher Märchen, </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">beide
zeigen mit ihren Worten das künftige Schicksal der Menschen,
verkünden Fluch und Segen.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">So
ist in all diesen Wörtern, vom urindogermanischen *</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bheh</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><sub><span><i>2</i></span></sub></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">-
über </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bhā́ti,
bhánati, φημί</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>φαίνομαι
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">und
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāri
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">zu
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fāta</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>fei</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">,
</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>Fee</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
und </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>feien
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">etwas
von der</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">
Leuchtkraft, vom Zauber des gesprochenen Wortes erhalten.</span></span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Quellen:</span></b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">„<span>feien“,
in: Wolfgang Pfeifer et al., Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen
(1993), digitalisierte und von Wolfgang Pfeifer überarbeitete
Version im Digitalen Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache,
<https://www.dwds.de/wb/etymwb/feien>. Abgerufen am 24.05.2021.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">„<span>Feiung“,
in: DWDS – Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, hrsg. v. d.
Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,
<https://www.dwds.de/wp/Feiung>. Abgerufen am 24.05.2021.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">„<span>gefeit“,
in: DWDS – Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, hrsg. v. d.
Berlin-Brandenburgischen Akademie der Wissenschaften,
<https://www.dwds.de/wb/gefeit>. Abgerufen am 24.05.2021.</span></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><cite><span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Grassmann,
Hermann. 1999. Wörterbuch zum Rigveda. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. </span></span></span></cite></span>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Hettrich,
Heinrich. 2007. Verbalwurzel </span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>bhā,
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">C.B.II.40,
111ff.</span></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><i>
</i></span></span></cite><cite><span style="color: black;"><span><span style="font-style: normal;">In:
Materialien zu einer Kasussyntax des Ṛgveda. </span></span></span></cite><cite><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Würzburg:
Institut für Altertumswissenschaften der Universität, 2007.
https://www.phil.uni-wuerzburg.de/fileadmin/04080400/Materialien.pdf.
Abgerufen am 24.05.2021</span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Lexikon
indogermanischer Verben. 2001. Hrsg. von Martin Kümmel. Wiesbaden:
Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag.</span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><cite><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Mayrhofer,
Manfred. 1992. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen. Band
2. Einträge zu </span></span></cite><cite><span><i>bhā́,
bhán, bhā́s. </i></span></cite><cite><span><span style="font-style: normal;">Heidelberg:
Winter.</span></span></cite></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-right: 1cm;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></p><br /><p></p><p></p>Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-2999845865866544742014-03-20T11:36:00.001-07:002014-03-20T11:36:42.086-07:00Happy Nowruz! <div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>
Nowruz is my favorite
holiday, because I really feel like celebrating the arrival of
spring, and I like how this has been celebrated for hundreds of years in Persian culture as well as by people of various cultural and religious backgrounds.</div>
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<br /></div>
</div>
<div>
I want to address the etymology of NOWRUZ, which is a compound word.</div>
Literally, its
original meaning may be something like "new day". That the element NOW- is related
to adjectives such as <i>new</i>, <i>neu</i>, Latin <i>novus</i>, Sanskrit <i>nava-</i>, etc., is easy
to recognize. -RUZ means "day" in Middle and Modern Persian. The
original meaning of the word, however, was <i>"</i>light<i>"</i>. The term is derived from an Old Iranian word related to Avestan <i>*RAOCAH-</i>, "light", itself derived from Proto-Indo-European <i>*LEUK-</i>(l <-> r and k <-> c sound changes are common in Indo-European languages), and is related to Sanskrit <i>RUCI</i>- "light", Sanskrit <i>LOKA</i>- "world", Latin <i>LUX, </i>as well as<i> </i>English <i>LIGHT </i>and German <i>LICHT.</i> <br />
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The basic root Indo-European *<i>LEUK</i>- "shine", as to be found in Vedic
(Sanskrit) ROCATE (with the l having changed into r) "shines" or German LEUCHTEN "shine", is also there in Greek LEUKOS "white".</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZy_3vBKL0UqhdtyKJJYHqYtjHxLlG4mKUBIuneIsfENDVr0BV4OLZsBqVyYs1q86qyRFatgXweGYHV8ZisAPlSk6T5EDvKaOnmA2_jz9B-MHcdk3vDPScXrOQGxfIRodms5jgYbd5Zzi/s1600/nowruz2014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZy_3vBKL0UqhdtyKJJYHqYtjHxLlG4mKUBIuneIsfENDVr0BV4OLZsBqVyYs1q86qyRFatgXweGYHV8ZisAPlSk6T5EDvKaOnmA2_jz9B-MHcdk3vDPScXrOQGxfIRodms5jgYbd5Zzi/s1600/nowruz2014.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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(Btw, I already talked about the root *LEUK- in an earlier post, in a different context.)<br />
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</-></-></div>
Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-52563144049386248222012-09-11T13:24:00.002-07:002013-05-22T13:17:34.906-07:00Heiligenschein<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Recently, I stumbled upon the word <i>heiligenschein. </i>At first, I didn't know what to make of it, but through Wikipedia I learned that a <i>heiligenschein </i>is</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">"<span lang="">an optical phenomenon
which creates a bright spot around the shadow of the viewer's head.
It is created when the surface on which the shadow falls has special
optical characteristics. Dewy grass is known to exhibit these
characteristics, and creates a Heiligenschein. Nearly spherical dew
droplets act as lenses to focus the light on the surface beneath
them. Some of this light 'backscatters' in the direction of the
sunlight as it passes back through the dew droplet. This makes the
antisolar point appear the brightest.“ </span></span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="">(
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiligenschein">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heiligenschein </a>Wikipedia, 7.08.12)</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="">This
is an interesting topic, btw! See also these links with nice sample
photos of <i>heiligenschein</i>:
</span><a href="http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/heilig.htm"><span style="color: blue;">http://www.atoptics.co.uk/droplets/heilig.htm</span></a> (link from 7.08.12).</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">As a German word, <i>heiligenschein</i> means "halo" or "glory", so both the English and the German language have their native word for that notion and, of course, there is no need for English speakers to use the German word, and vice versa, in that sense.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">So why did English speakers take to using the word <i>heiligenschein </i>in their language? </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">A <i>heiligenschein </i>is a particular optical phenomenon that looks <b>similar </b>to a halo.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">And because of that <b>similarity </b>someone introduced the German <i>heiligenschein </i>as a metaphorical expression for that newly discovered phenomenon. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Maybe a German speaking scientist was involved in the coinage, that would explain the choice of the <b>source language</b> (but I do have the impression that in the realm of physics it is not rare that German words are used for denoting particular phenomena). </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I won't leave out another interesting feature of <i>heiligenschein</i>: In German, it is a compound word, consisting of the components <i>Heiligen </i>and <i>Schein</i>, and although the word has acquired its own special lexical meaning, the meanings of the components are still transparent: a <i>Heiliger </i>is a saint, and <i>Schein </i>means glow or shine. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Native speakers of the recipient language English can't make out those constituents any more, so in English, the word has to be regarded as a simplex.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">To summarize the previous description:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The coining and usage of the English word <i>heiligenschein </i>exhibits some typical features of loanwords:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Words of one language enter another language conveying new content, new notions, be it scientifc or technological, philosophical or religious vocabulary (there can be other reasons, but that's for another post).</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The words often do not retain their original spectrum of meaning, but take on a more specialized meaning in the recipient language. </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">If the loanword is a compound in the donor language, it is probable that the speakers of the recipient language don't understand its constituents any more and therefore treat the word as a simplex. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span lang="">Btw, in the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee, <i>heiligenschein</i>
was the word which eliminated a contestant who finished fourth for the
second consecutive year. As this competition whas televised live in a
primetime broadcast, the event involving heiligenschein got widely known
and is credited with increasing the prominence of the spelling bee in
American culture. </span></span></div>
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<br />Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-45013025058822507482012-02-19T12:07:00.000-08:002012-02-20T11:44:33.583-08:00DOST<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>dost
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">'friend' was one of the first few Hindi
words I encountered, and like so many words in Hindi, it has been
borrowed from Persian (in Modern Persian it has become </span><i>dust</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
as far as I know). </span></span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I
don't know in how many contemporary languages it has become a
loanword as well, but at least I often read it in Turkish internet
posts. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Its
meaning alone makes me love the word – but for a person interested
in historical linguistics, there is a lot more to it – a long
history dating back to, roughly estimated, 3,000 BCE, and a rich
variety of descendants of the original Proto-Indo-European word in
various Indo-European languages.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">But
how can we know that word and what it meant?</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">First,
we can go back to the Old Persian language, to the inscriptions of
King Dareios. With the word <i>dauštar</i> 'friend', the
predecessor of <i>dost</i>, Dareios seems to have spoken of his true
allies, as opposed to the „liars“, those who betrayed him. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
the most ancient layer of the Sanskrit language, called Vedic, we
have a word that is phonetically corresponding to </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>dauštar</i> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i> </i>:
<i>joṣṭár </i>'loving'. As the two meanings can also easily be
related to each other, we can be sure there must have been a word
that is the common predecessor of both.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Most
likely, that predecessor wasn't a noun, but a cognate verb. As we can
tell from the suffix -tar-, which is common to both nouns, these words
are agent nouns derived from a verbal root. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">That
verbal root in fact exists; it is to be found in Old Persian as well
as in Old Avestan (the language of Zoroaster), and also in Vedic
Sanskrit: </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Old Persian verb is <i>dauš-</i>, the Old Avestan cognate being
<i>zauš-</i>, and the Sanskrit word is <i>juṣ-.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
three verbs share roughly the same meaning: ENJOY.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Looking
closer into the Sanskrit texts, it becomes clear that 'enjoy' isn't
just meant to be a passive emotional state elicited by a pleasurable
sensation, but a feeling evoked by something or someone that has been
CHOSEN.</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By
looking back even further in time (plus by comparing cognates from even more Indo-European languages), at last we find the
Proto-Indo-European (PIE) verb <i>*ğeus-</i> 'to taste', 'to
relish'. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After
that most ancient PIE stage (which we can only deduce, of course),
the Indo-Iranian branch wasn't the only one in which that verb was
preserved in several ways. </span></span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">In
our Germanic languages, Old English <i>ceosan</i> 'choose', 'taste',
'try' has originated from Proto-Germanic *<i>keusanan</i> (cf. Dutch
<i>kiezen</i>, Old High German <i>kiosan</i>, German <i>kiesen</i>,
Old Nordic <i>kjosa </i>, and the like in other Germanic languages),
which of course has descended from the same PIE base <i>*ğeus-</i>, and has eventually become our<i> choose </i>(somehow <i>choice </i>is also related to it, btw).</span></span></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The
Romance languages have preserved that ancient Indo-European verb as
well. Latin <i>gustare </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">'taste',
'take a little of' is cognate to the verbs discussed above and a
descendant of <i>*ğeus-</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> .,
with several modern verbs (and nouns) originating from it, e.g. Spanish
</span><i>gustar.</i></span></span></div>
<dl><dd style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">It
is obvious that the semantic development of the root takes various
directions in the respective language families, may it be 'choose'
or 'try' in the Germanic languages, and often 'taste' in Romance.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">So English <i>choose</i>, Persian/Hindi/Turkish <i>dost </i>and Spanish <i>gustar </i>(plus many more words in other languages) all originate from a common ancestor, the PIE word </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>*ğeus-</i> 'taste', 'relish'.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">Because it fits with this post in a way, at last a link to a wonderful song:</span></span> <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2oIqlEkX5s">Manu Chao, Me gustas tú</a></dd></dl>
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<br /></div>Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-63993877570070117372011-10-06T10:51:00.000-07:002011-10-07T14:00:42.592-07:00Vṛddhi - a special method of word derivation in Old Indo-Aryan<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>OIA </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><b>m</b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><b>ṛgá-</b><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></i></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>m</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ṛgá-, </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">(wild) animal' is an old Indian noun, already appearing in the Ṛ</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">g</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">veda, the most ancient Indian book of religious hymns.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">When </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>m</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ṛgá- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> is meant to refer to a particular class of animals, it is used alongside different epiteths, e.g. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mṛgá- mahiṣá-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> 'huge animal' for 'buffalo', </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mṛgá- hastín-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, 'animal with a hand', for 'elephant', etc.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">In phonologically different shapes, the noun exists also in several Iranian languages as well as in later Indo-Aryan dialects (e. g. in the Middle Indo-Aryan dialect Pāli </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>maga-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> m. 'deer'); its origin is still unknown.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>OIA </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><b>m</b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><b>ṛgá- </b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>in compounds and derivational nouns </b></span></span> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Beside its occurrence in the ancient books in several compound words such as </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mṛgá-śaphá- '</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">hoof of a antilope' it was also processed in derivational nouns, e.g. Vedic </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mṛga-yú- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'hunter', and the noun </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'way' ('path', 'track', 'slot') or 'method' (in the Ṛ</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">g</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">veda).</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>V</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>ṛddhi-derivation OIA </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><b>mārga-</b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b> </b></span></span> </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Now when we look at </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga-, </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">we observe a special means of derivation, of building a new word from one already existing, which is different from derivational words with a suffix as </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mṛga-yú-. </i></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Like our modern Indo-European languages English and German, the ancient Indian languages had different means of building new words out of existing ones, e. g. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>suffixation</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> as in English </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>shy-ness </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="font-weight: normal;">(a </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="font-weight: normal;">n</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">oun derived from an adjective), and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>prefixation</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, e. g. German </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>ver-brauchen</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, but the ancient Indians also used methods of derivation neither modern English nor German do know any more – but which once have been used in these languages' predecessors, too.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">The special means of derivation found in </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">is named by a Sanskrit term </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>V</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>ṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, 'growth'. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><span style="font-weight: normal;">It is marked by lengthening of the root vowel, which in Old Indian means to ad</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">d double </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>a</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> to the root at the earliest possible point of the word (e.g., in </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga- ṛ + a +a </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">gives </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ār</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">)</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i> </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">(there is a special system of vowel gradation in Old Indian, where the vowels a, i, u, and </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">ṛ</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> are being upgraded by adding -a- to the basic vowel, and again, by adding another a, used mainly as a no longer productive means of derivation, like the Ablaut in English and German irregular verbs). </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">The </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>meaning </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">of words such as </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">which contained </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> was </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>affiliation </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">or</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b> belonging </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">in relation to the source of the derivation, sometimes in a more narrow, sometimes in a wider sense.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">During the history of the Indian languages, the derivational device of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> has been abundantly applied and used to enlargen and enrich the lexicon.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">Here I'll show only a few of its many, many forms of use:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">has been applied for marking the descendant(s) of an ancestor:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">The children and descendants of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>Bharata</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, an ancient emperor according to Indian mythology, were called </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>Bhāratas</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, and India's indigenous name is </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>Bhārat</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, 'land of the Bhāratas'</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> is also being used when speaking of languages:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">At the time of the Buddha, there was an Indian territory called </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>Magadha</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">; the language that was supposedly spoken in that region is called</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i> Māgadhī </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">(maybe you noticed that not only the root vowel, but also the suffix has been changed here; that is not seldom the case!). </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> wasn’t used in the Indian languages only; there is evidence it was also applied in other Indo-European language families – which indicates that it had already been a morphological device in the Proto-Indo-European language (PIE).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">I'll give you a very short glimpse of traces of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> in another Indo-European language:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">The German word </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Huhn</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> 'hen' is an ancient </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">-derivation of the noun </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Hahn </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'cock' (the predecessors of these words, of course); </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Huhn </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">then meant 'that belonging to the </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Hahn</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Also, the modern German word for 'brother-in-law', </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Schwager</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">', was once formed as a </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">-derivation of the now obsolete word for 'father-in-law': </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Schwäher</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">. This word originates from the Proto-Indo-European noun </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>*sṷéḱuro-s</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, while the </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">-formation </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>*su</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>̯ēkurós</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">- (note the long vowel and the shift of the accent) ('Schwager' = 'brother-in-law') </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> is most probably of Germanic origin.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">I won't leave out the Old Indian noun </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>devá- </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'god', 'heavenly', 'belonging to the bright heaven' here.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Its alleged Indo-European form </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>*deiuó-</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> is in fact a </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">-derivation of PIE *</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>div-</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, 'heaven', 'god of heaven', 'day' from which the Greek word </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Zeus</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> as well as the Latin </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Jupiter</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> and our word </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>day </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">originate.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">There is a lot more to say about this root </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>*div-</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, but that would be a long new post.<br /><br />Now we come back to </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>m</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ṛgá- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">and</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i> mārga-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> and how I came across them:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">I didn’t find </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> in</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> a linguistical account or in an old Vedic text, but in a Sanskrit poem of the great Indian poet </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Kalidāsa </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">(who lived around 500 CE, that is more than 2,000 years later than the redaction oft he </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Ṛ</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">gveda )</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, in his poem </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Kumārasambhava</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">. In the introductory verses oft he poem, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Kalidāsa</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> describes in abundant metaphors the mountains of the Him</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">ā</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">laya and the ways of its inhabitants. In this context </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>m</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ārga- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">is the path of the wild animals.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">Here one verse (translated by me):</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">"...[in the Him</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">ā</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">laya] where the Kir</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">ā</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">tas [a tribe of hunters] can still follow the PATH (</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">) of the lions because of the pearls that had fallen off their claws</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, although they won’t find the blood red coloured traces of the elephants which have been washed away by the falling snow"(</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Kumārasambhava </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">1/6).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">The word </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">is still alive, not only in classical Sanskrit as in </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Kalidāsa’s </b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">poetry, but also in the New Indo-Aryan (NIA) language Hindi.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">There the word is </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārg, </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">‚religious path‘, ‚way of redemption‘, ‚method‘ etc., its meanings similar to those of English ‚way‘. </span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Btw, </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārg</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> is a loanword from Sanskrit, it can’t be an original NIA-word, because the ancient sounds except the suffix –</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>a </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">are preserved in it. If the ancient word had developed into a modern Indian word through the centuries, its shape would have changed considerably, as the MIA word P</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">ā</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">li </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>maga</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> already indicates (roughly spoken, in NIA languages such as Hindi, loanwords from Sanskrit are being used in a way similar to German or English using words of Latin or Greek origin: for denoting more abstract concepts, for expressing thoughts in a more elaborate code).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">It is quite obvious how the meaning of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>mārga- </i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">fits into the semantics of </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Vṛddhi</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">-derivations, which are formed to express belonging or affiliation in relation to the basic word. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>Mārga-</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> is something belonging to </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>m</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ṛgá</i></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">-, or originating from wild animals, in this case it is the path treaded by or used by the animals, as is still transparent in our example from </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><b>Kalidāsa</b></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><br /></span></span></div>
Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-64717465886035288532010-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:002010-08-17T11:17:40.486-07:00Knowing - metaphorically spoken<span style="font-family:arial;">How do languages express abstract concepts, such as </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >to know </span><span style="font-family:arial;">something?<br /><br /></span> <span style="font-family:arial;">Let us have a look at the means the speakers of some Indo-European languages have chosen long ago, how they used to say </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >"I know":<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;">In the ancient Indo-European languages, there was the verb *</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >weid</span><span style="font-family:arial;">- 'to behold'. In more than one language of the family the present perfect form of the verb, which can be reconstructed as *</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >woida</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, originally meaning 'I have beheld', acquired the meaning 'I know'. In the course of the centuries the old perfect form became an independent verb with a meaning different from that of its origin.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br />The development seems quite transparent and even plausible - something I have perceived/beheld is something I have got to 'know'!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">In the old Indian language, we have </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >veda - '</span><span style="font-family:arial;">I know' (well known from the most ancient religious texts of the Indian people - the </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Veda</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, as in </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Rig Veda</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >Atharva Veda</span><span style="font-family:arial;">...).</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">The ancient Greek language obviously passed the same process: Greek </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;">οίδα</span> ('I know' - exactly matching Old Indian <span style="font-style: italic;">veda</span>), the perfect form derived from the before mentioned Proto-Indo-European root, also means 'I know'.<br />However, in the Latin language the process observed before has either not taken place, or its result has been lost. Latin </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span style="font-style: italic;">v</span><span lang="zxx"><span style="font-style: italic;">īdī </span>merely means 'I have seen'.<br /><br />As to Germanic languages such as Gothic and Old High German, Gothic <span style="font-style: italic;">wait </span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">witum</span> and the OHG verb <span style="font-style: italic;">weizen</span> (the NHG 'ich weiß') - are of the same origin and meaning as the Indian, Greek, and Latin forms.<br /><br />Our observations suggest that a parallel semantic development has taken place:<br />from a verb with the meaning (roughly) 'to see' via its perfect form 'to have seen' to a new verb with the meaning 'to know'. This has been the case in several Indo-European branches such as Indo-Aryan, Greek, and Germanic. As we deal with one Proto-Indo-European root</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> *</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >woida </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >, </span><span style="font-family:arial;">the process might already have taken place in the proto-language. </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><br /><br />Abstractly speaking, we find that the above mentioned languages express the abstract state of <span style="font-weight: bold;">knowing</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>sth. by metaphorically employing the <span>sensual concept</span> of <span style="font-weight: bold;">seeing</span>.<br /><br />Latin, like other languages, has developed various means to denote the concept of <span>knowing</span>. We find that the word <span style="font-style: italic;">-scire</span> 'to know' has originated (retrograde) from the negative <span style="font-style: italic;">ne-scio</span> 'I don't know' (note that not the positive <span style="font-style: italic;">-scio</span> is the original word, but the negative <span style="font-style: italic;">ne-scio</span>!).<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">-scio</span> in <span style="font-style: italic;">ne-scio </span>is a form of lat. <span style="font-style: italic;">secui</span>, 'I have cut', the perfect of <span style="font-style: italic;">seco,</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">secare</span>, 'to cut, to part'.<br />So the Latin language associates the abstract concepts of <span>knowledge</span> and <span>understanding</span> with processes of <span>dissecting</span>, of <span>cutting into parts</span>, of <span><span>discerning</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>the parts of a matter - with <span><span style="font-weight: bold;">analysis</span> </span>(btw., the greek word <span style="font-style: italic;">analysis</span> has an etymological background similar to our "cutting" words).<br />In modern German, we have a parallel concept for discerning: the verb <span style="font-style: italic;">unterscheiden</span>. The simplex <span style="font-style: italic;">scheiden</span> originally means 'to divide', 'to part', 'to cut'.<br /><br />The English equivalent to <span style="font-style: italic;">unterscheiden </span>is the verb <span style="font-style: italic;">discern</span> </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">from Latin </span><span class="foreign" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">discernere</span> </span><span style="font-family:arial;">(from </span><span class="foreign" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">dis</span>-</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> 'off', 'away' + </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" class="foreign" >cernere</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> 'distinguish', 'separate', 'sift'). It refers to the same notion - both in English and in Latin!</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Up to now, we have found two quite divergent metaphorical concepts of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">knowing</span><span style="font-family:arial;">:</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">to</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >see</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> refers to a mental concept which is partly associated with the notion of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">wholeness</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, whereas to </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >discern</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> links our acquisition of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">knowledge </span><span style="font-family:arial;">to acts of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">dividing</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, of </span><span style="font-family:arial;">cutting </span><span style="font-family:arial;">apart - of</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" ><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span></span><span style="font-family:arial;">analysis</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. Two mental concepts - of</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">synthesis</span></span><span style="font-family:arial;"> and of </span><span style="font-weight: bold;font-family:arial;" >analysis</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - they are supposed to be complementary in the process of acquiring </span><span style="font-family:arial;">knowledge.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />A third way Indo-European languages denote </span><span style="font-family:arial;">knowing</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> can be shown in the etymology of English </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >to </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >know</span><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">It originates from PIE *gneh3- , 'to know', which became Gothic </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >kunnan</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, Old Norse </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >kna</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, Old English </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >cnawan</span><span style="font-family:arial;">, OHG </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >knaen</span><span style="font-family:arial;">: Interestingly, the Old English word seems to have been mainly used to express 'to know from experience'; it also meant 'to be able'. A cognate of this word is the German </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >können</span><span style="font-family:arial;">.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">The Anglo-Saxons used two distinct words for the concept of knowing, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" class="foreign" >witan</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> (see </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >wit; </span><span style="font-family:arial;">cf. our discussion of </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >*woida </span><span style="font-family:arial;">above) and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" class="foreign" >cnawan</span><span style="font-family:arial;">. The latter seems to refer to a more practical point of view, as in the Modern English phrase </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >to </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" class="foreign" >know better</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" > </span><span style="font-family:arial;">"to have learned from experience" (first attested 1704). The Modern English </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" class="foreign" >Know-how</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> "technical expertise"was first recorded 1838 in American English.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">So in Anglo-Saxon we have two verbs with somehow complementary shades of meaning, </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >witan</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> used in mainly theoretical contexts, and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >cnawan</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> for knowledge with practical implications.</span> <span style="font-family:arial;">There was another Old English preterite-present verb absorbing a third sense of "to know," that of "to know how to do something" (in addition to "to know as a fact" and "to be acquainted with" something or someone). Its original perfect participle, </span><span class="foreign" style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-style: italic;">couth</span>,</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> has survived only in its negation </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >uncouth</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >. </span><span style="font-family:arial;"> But note that </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >could </span><span style="font-family:arial;">and </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >can </span><span style="font-family:arial;">are from the same root; another cognate word derived from this origin is </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >cunning.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">There are further interesting metaphorical concepts for "knowing", e. g. </span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >to grasp</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> - German be-</span><span style="font-style: italic;font-family:arial;" >greifen</span><span style="font-family:arial;"> : we get to know something by touching it, by taking possession of it (compare German "Besitz ergreifen").</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;">I tried to demonstrate by reference to a few examples how languages can express the mental concept of "to know something" -<br />by means of metaphors from the world of our senses -<br />with verbs that originally meant "to see", "to cut", "to grasp", ...<br /><br />The examples should also hint at the historical dimension of metaphorical speech - they were taken from the very confined field of ancient Indo-European languages and their modern descendants.</span>Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-66060297238486185992010-03-28T05:53:00.000-07:002010-03-28T14:28:26.832-07:00Lenten<span style="font-style: italic;font-family:times new roman;" ><a href="http://frankfurt-interaktiv.de/specials/fruehling/derlenzistda.html">Der Lenz ist da!</a><span style="font-style: italic;">,</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"> German poets used to exclaim when they felt excited about the advent of Spring. The word </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>Lenz </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">has been nearly obsolete for a long time, even with poets such as Goethe, who preferred to adress </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://www.garten-literatur.de/Leselaube/goethe/goethe_fruehling_ueber.html">Frühling</a>.</i></span><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">In Old High German, we find the forms </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>lenzo</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">, </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>längess</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">, also </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>längsing </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">(Middle High German </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>langez</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">)</span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>, </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">forms which exactly match Old English </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>lencten </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">(cf. also Old Saxonian </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>lentin</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">, Middle Dutch </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>lenten).</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"> These attested forms can be derived from a (reconstructed) West Germanic </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>*langa-t</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ī</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>na(z)</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">. The meaning of the first element of this compound is clearly 'long'. The second element </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>t</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ī</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>na- </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">is an ancient Indo-European suffix-like formation meaning 'day' or 'daily'. So the word </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>Lenz, lenten </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">most probably refers to the period of the year when daylight is increasing. Literally, we may translate </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>Lenz </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">as '(the season having) long days'.<br /></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">Now, back to the second element - West Germanic *-</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>t</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>ī</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>na</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">: </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">The ancient Indo-European formation is present in the Gothic word </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>sin-teins</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, which means 'daily'. And it is not only used in old Germanic languages such as English, German, or Gothic, but also in various other old Indo-European languages. In Latin, e.g., we have </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>nūn-dinae</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">, meaning 'the market held every ninth day'.<br />The suffix is contained in the Old Indian word </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>madhyam-dina '</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">'midday', 'time of midday'. The Lithuanian language as well as Slavonic languages have </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>diena </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">(Lithuanian) and </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>dini </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">(Old Church Slavonic).<br />It is clear that our suffix-like element -</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>tina </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">or -</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>dina </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">is derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *dyeu- </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">(cf. Skt. </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>diva</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"> 'by day', Latin </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>dies</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">, Welsh </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>diw</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">, Arm. </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>tiw</i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">), which has developed so many meanings, from 'sky' to 'day' to 'heaven' to 'god'. </span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i><br /><br /></i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">Our compound word *</span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><i>langa-teina, Lenz, lenten </i></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">must originally have been an adjective, just because of its Bahuvr</span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">īhi</span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"> character. A Bahuvr</span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">īhi-compound always has the meaning of 'possessing' the things/features mentioned, such as </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>Ironheart </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">means 'having or possessing a heart of iron'; </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;">Bahuvr</span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">īhis are always adjectives originally.<br />So, as to be expected, in the Old High German phrase </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>lengizin manoth</i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"> (meaning 'the month having long days' for the month of March) </span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx"><i>lengizin </i></span></span><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">is clearly an adjective.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family:Arial Unicode MS,sans-serif;"><span lang="zxx">In Modern English <span style="font-style: italic;">Lent </span>or <span style="font-style: italic;">Lenten </span>has acquired a specialized meaning. The </span></span>Church sense of the period between Ash Wednesday and Easter is peculiar to English.<br /></p>Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-60290676886794165192009-06-21T11:52:00.000-07:002009-06-21T13:00:18.039-07:00Notes on the etymology of TORRENT<p>The word "torrent" evokes images of gushing flood waters, raging currents of water, sweeping everything away, of heavy showers of rain... so I was surprised to learn that it is etymologically derived from a word meaning <em>thirsty</em>, even <em>dry</em> or <em>desiccated</em>. It is a loanword from French: <em>torrent</em>, which<em> </em>originates from Latin <em>torrens -torrentem </em>"rushing stream". As the suffix indicates, it is the ppa (participle present active) of a verb, namely the Latin <em>torrere </em>"to parch". </p><p>So, what could be the connection between a rushing stream and something which is dried out, thirsting for some water?</p><p>Supposedly, the contrasting meanings are linked by the image of a <strong>mountain creek </strong>or river which may be a <strong>raging current in spring, but dries out in summer</strong>.</p><p>By the way, the Proto-Indo-European word *ters- simply means "thirsty" or "dry", with no implication of waters, floods, and creeks yet. </p><p>In the Vedic (old Indian) language, for example, we have the adjective <em>trsh</em><em>āna </em>meaning "thirsty". The German verb <em>ver-dorren</em> means "dry up", "wither", while the corresponding causative verb <em>dörren means </em>"to parch". There is also the archaic word <em>darren</em>, which denotes the traditional procedure of parching cereals in the oven. <em> </em></p><p><br /></p>Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-48364375139468119572009-05-13T10:57:00.000-07:002009-05-21T06:18:34.502-07:00German LICHTERLOHGerman LICHTERLOH is a (sort of) compound adverb meaning (burning) "with a bright flame". I came across this word through Andrew Hammel's <a href="http://andrewhammel.typepad.com/german_joys/german_word_of_the_week/">Word of the Week</a> in his blog <a href="http://andrewhammel.typepad.com/german_joys/">German Joys</a> . Its etymology is worth a glance:<br />The element LICHT(er) is a genitive form of "licht" meaning "bright, light", derived from Proto-Indo-European *LEUK- "shine", as to be found in Latin LUX or Vedic ("Sanskrit") ROCATE (with the l having changed into r) "shines", the root is also there in Greek LEUKOS "white".<br />Now we get to the second element -LOH:<br />LOHE means "flame" (LOUG in Old High German) which is derived from the above mentioned root *LEUK "shine".<br />So, we find that the two components of LICHTERLOH are both derived from the same Indo-European root, *LEUK.<br />Moreover, there is a quite similar word, now to be found only in place names:<br />LOH (like in Güterloh, Oslo), in Old High German meaning "grove", "clearing". Connected with Vedic LOKA "free space, world" and Latin LUCUS "grove", it is derived from the Proto-Indo-European noun *LOUKO which belongs to our root *LEUK- "shine".<br />So we can see an etymological connection between two quite different semantic fields:<br />one with the meaning "shine" in its centre (connected with "bright", "fire", "burning", "(blazing) white"), and an altogether different lexical branch with the core meaning "free space", "clearing", "grove" (the German word for grove is LICHTUNG showing a similar connection between a (supposedly) "cleared piece of land" and words tied to "shine, be bright".<br />The link between the two concepts is, presumably, the notion that a clearing is a place where the light of the sun pervades the air to get through to the ground.<br />The concept common to both semantic fields is BRIGHTNESS, it seems to me.Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4768130335187972622.post-90731838670133708092009-03-18T12:40:00.000-07:002009-03-18T13:09:46.475-07:00Indiens Sprachen<p>Wussten Sie,</p><ul><li>dass in Indien mehr als 122 Sprachen gesprochen werden?</li><li>dass diese Sprachen zu 4 großen Sprachfamilien gehören, die untereinander, historisch gesehen, nicht verwandt sind?</li><li>dass die sogenannten indoarischen Sprachen Indiens wie Hindi, Urdu, Bengalisch, Singhalesisch, Sanskrit (um nur wenige zu nennen), mit den europäischen Sprachen urverwandt sind?</li><li>dass die alte indische Sprache Sanskrit (Vedisch) dem Altgriechischen und Lateinischen in Wortschatz und grammatischer Struktur noch sehr ähnlich war?</li><li>dass die Sprache Romani der europäischen Sinti und Roma eine indoarische Sprache ist?</li><li>dass die indischen Sprachen in verschiedenen Schriften geschrieben werden, die alle auf der alten Brahmi-Schrift basieren?</li><li>dass in der indoarischen Sprache Panjabi parallel 3 verschiedene Schriften verwendet werden, je nachdem, welche politische oder religiöse Gruppe sich ihrer bedient?</li></ul><p></p><p></p>Heidi http://www.blogger.com/profile/02331089922877917882noreply@blogger.com0