--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski
<piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <tgpedersen@...>
> To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Thursday, February 06, 2003 3:02 PM
> Subject: Re: Fw: [tied] Latin versus *Proto-Romance
>
>
> > What are the names that are composed with Karl- (or Swain-, a
parallel example)? Anyway, if something was once down, now up, it
must have changed position at some time. Are you saying the word had
become meaningless at that time?
>
> No, what I'm saying is that a name identifies its bearer but is not
supposed to "mean" anything even if it has an etymological meaning.
We know virtually nothing about early Germanic slang. I would not
exclude the possibility that *karl- stood for something
like 'buddy', 'fellow' or 'lad', cf. Scots carl(e), carlie, Ger.
Kerl, and simply stuck to some individuals as a nickname before being
formalised (same with *swain-).
>
> Piotr
That sounds reasonable enough. But there's another thing: The Roman
emperors were officially Caesars (part of their name, even), but the
Carolingian kings were not titled Carls.
BTW in Danish a 'karl' is a farmhand. His employer, the farmer, is
(qua top man on the farm) his 'husbond'. Cf English. Same
relationship, the boss.
Torsten