Re: [tied] *kuningaz

****GK: The Herrmann article mentioned below argues,
for what it's worth, that the expected -t- was changed
to a -d- under the influence of "folk etymology".*****
 

Changed in Baltic or Slavic (who called themselves Goths, according to that theory)? And what's that folk etymology?

 

>(ST) Baltic etymologies have been also proposed for
Lith.
> gu`das; the most
> plausible one explains it from onomatopoeic *gud-
> (cf. Lith. dial.
> guduo'ti 'speak unclear, murmur'

 *****GK: So the "Gudai" are the Lithuanians' "Nimtsi"?
(:=))

Structurally, yes. There's a number of idiomatic expressions like

 

ei~k po~ gu`do ra~tais 'go to hell, lit. go beneath a gu`das' cart'

gu`do valanda` '(disappr.) extremely long period of time, lit. gu`das' hour'

gu`das ko'jas i,ki`s^o 'has gone off (of milk, beer etc), lit. gu`das put his feet in',

also a number of unusual or lame ways of doing something (building a house, setting up a fence etc) are called gudu,~ 'of the gudai~', gu`dis^kai 'in a gudai~'s manner'.

Cf. the role the Germans play in Slavic folklore.

 

Sergei