Re: [tied] Re: Language - Area - Routes

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

From: tgpedersen@...

To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com

Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 1:07 PM

Subject: [tied] Re: Language - Area - Routes

> The Danes are an IndoEuropean "urfolk" originally living in the land of the Dan-rivers, Scythia. In the remote past they have sent contingents to Hellas and Palestine (the Dan tribe).

 

Do you mean the Danes were not originally Germanic? Or do all the other Germani belong to the same "urfolk"? How were they related to other ethnic groups in and around "Scythia" (Iranians, Slavs, Thracians)? What, by the way, is an IE "urfolk"? Is it someting different from ordinary "folks"? Is there any archaeological or linguistic evidence of the suggested migrations?

 

> After centuries of fighting with the Slavic Ruthenians...

 

Why "Ruthenians"? Sergei has explained to you very clearly the origin and meaning of the term. It's completely meaningless when applied to any Slavs in the fourth century or earlier.

 

> The South Danes flee to the south west, joining up with the
Hreidgoter (Danzig "Dan-vic-" (you probably have a lot to say on that
one)...)

 

I'll leave your Norse etymologies for later (I'd like to check a few details first), but I won't let you get away with this one. Danzig is a German adaptation of Slavic *gUdan-Isk- (Polish Gdan'sk, first mentioned in AD 997 as "urb[s] Gyddanyzc"). The element *gUd- is also visible in the name of the neighbouring city of Gdynia (*gUd-yn-ja); there are other Slavic and Baltic names containing *gUd- (Sergei and I discussed them on Cybalist some time ago). The meaning of the element is disputable (it may be ultimately of Germanic origin), but the analysis of similar names shows at least that the correct division of *gUdan- is *gUd-an-. Gdan'sk has been romantically equated with "Gothiskandza", as if it had been a Gothic capital. But there is no indication that Gdan'sk existed as a settlement before the 9th century, let alone in Gothic times. Besides, *gUd- doesn't quite match Germanic *gut-. No plausible connection with *dan- can be established.

 

Piotr