Re: [tied] Re: Non-IE elements in Scandinavian

----- Original Message -----

From: David James

To: cybalist@egroups.com

Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 9:08 PM

Subject: [tied] Re: Non-IE elements in Scandinavian

More precisely, hav is derived from the Germanic verb meaning "heave" (OE hebban < IE *kap-je- 'lift'). It is probably related to haven if the latter was 'a place where boats are kept' < *xaf-na- < *kap-no- from the same root.

 

There are several theories about the origin of fjell (= English dialectal fell), relating it to Fels, fall (or both at the same time), or to field (< *pelx-tu-). None of these proposals seems more convincing than the alternative ones, so the word can be regarded as etymologically unclear but quite possibly IE.

 

Piotr

 

 

--- In cybalist@egroups.com, "Marc Verhaegen" <marc.verhaegen@...>
wrote:
> >I'm no expert in indo-european languages, so many of my examples
are of IE
> >origin. I just mentioned a few words which I hadn't heard in other
> >languages and thought could be non-IE. But also remember that many
> >Scandinavian words were spread widely during the Viking ages (ca.
1000
> >AD), for example vindu = window. Although most of my examples have
been
> >explained as IE, some remain. Fjell = mountain and hav = ocean are
my best
> >candidates for non-IE. It's also interesting that names of rivers,
some
> >lakes and regions in Norway are of unknown origin. Ancient,
unexplained
> >names like Trysil, Hemsil, Tolga, Rena, Madla, Bandak and Totak do
not
> >resemble other Norwegian names or words.
>
>
> Fjell & hav not Germanic? Is "hav" related to Dutch
"haven"=harbour? My
> etym.diccionary says it could be related to Latin "capere". Could
"fjell"
> berelated to "to fall"?
>
> Marc

I think Fjell is related to German 'Fels' meaning 'rock' which is
itself of IE origin.

Regards

David