Re: Derivation of "king"

From: DEFAYES MICHEL
Message: 1827
Date: 2000-03-10

Mark DeFillo a écrit:

> This is my first posting, although I have been reading this list for several
> months.
>
> My dictionary (Webster's New World Dictionary:Third College Edition) states
> that "king" is derived from a Germanic *kuningaz, analyzed as *kunja (= Eng.
> kin) + -ing-. *Kunja is said to be ultimately derived from the PIE *gen- (to
> beget,produce). What is the reason for doubting this? (A recent posting said
> that there is no explanation for the word "king".)

Hi Mark D,>>The word king and the names of many dignitaries derive from
morphological bases >>meaning "convex, high, great, top" etc. I have many
examples.
>>The base to which king belongs is k-n "cone, corner, top". A few examples:
Gaelic Ireland cein, geinn wedge
Gael.I. scuaine troupe, herd
Anc.Greek koin? in common
Romance con- (prefix) with
Rheto-Romance con height, hill; how many
Engl. dial. scoon (to) to skim along (on top)
French. coin angle; wedge, etc.
Engl. coin round piece of metal used as money, see dollar ? 4.2.14
French cône cone
Cat. conya cap
Provençal: b.Dauph. cona a kind of night cap
Persian khan lord
Alb. kunj wedge
Ital.: Cal. cugnu wedge
Lith. kunas body
Russian konus conical
Russian kunura hut
Ukr. konj top of a tree
Germ. könig king
Engl. king the one at the top
Engl. queen the king's spouse. The etymology relating queen to Greek gyn?, even
if in accordance with phonetical permutations (it hardly is), is devoid of
logic: the king's spouse has never been, and cannot by any good sense, be called
just "the woman". Queen is to king what königin is to könig. If Fr. chirurgien
can become surgeon, cannot Germ. königin become queen ?
Regards
Michel