Re: [tied] Re: I, Hercules [was: A "Germanic" query] IRMIN

From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 13112
Date: 2002-04-08

Folk etymology implies a native model: what would that be? Why should *ermuna- have been reinterpreted as 'great'? And why twist both the form and the meaning just to force an etymology against obvious facts? BTW, <ermana-> occurs in Gothic, where it can't reflect <arjaman->, and even in early West Germanic the syncope you propose would have been unusual.
 
Piotr
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: João Simões Lopes Filho
To: cybalist@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Monday, April 08, 2002 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Re: I, Hercules [was: A "Germanic" query] IRMIN

Could be *Ermunaz a corruption of expected *Erjaman-/Arjaman? Maybe an archaic oblique form *Erjamun- developed into *Erjamunaz>Ermunaz, lately folk-etymologized as "strong, powerful, great".