Re: etmyology of Germani

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "alex_lycos" <altamix@...> wrote:

> tgpedersen wrote:
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Michael J Smith <lookwhoscross-
> > eyednow@...> wrote:
> >> I was wondering about the etymology of the word Germani,

and if

> >> there is any truth in what Strabo said:"The Romans assigned to

them

> > the
> >> name 'Germani,' as though they wished to indicate thereby that

they

> >> were 'genuine' Galatae, for in the language of the

Romans 'germani'

> >> means 'genuine.'
> >>
> >> Thoughts anyone?
> >>
> >> -Michael
> >>
> > Strabo's derivation makes sense in the case that people on both

sides

> > of the Rhine were Celts and those on the Roman side were

Romanized.

> > Of course the old romantic in me would want to equate Herodotus'
> > Germani and Daans (forgot where) with Germans and Danes although
> > proper historians and linguists tell me they were Iranian-speakers
> > from Kerman, and Dahae
> >
> > Torsten
>
> Torsten, which are the Iranic elements in Germanic then? I really
>failed
> to see where should be at least the linguistic connection since
> historicaly there is no clear connection between iranians and
> germanics:).

Now _that_ is a good question and one I wondered why no one else
asked. All I have to show is the possibly Iranian name Hermunduri and
the possibly Pontic-and-Caucasian-from-Iranian origin of the name
Wodan. And Piotr mentioned that 'path' might be an Iranian loan.
There is the an romantic discredited idea of a special relationship
between the German and the Iranian languages, and on the net you can
find long lists (usually compiled in the 19th century) of supposed
similar cognates in Germanic and Iranian, which just might be
interpreted as the result of a 'semantic alignment' process by
Germanic caused by a putative Iranian Führungsschicht, similar to the
influence German has had on Danish, but as for loanwords - no,
nothing similar to the number of Iranian loans in Slavic. Doesn't
look good. But then, anything may be hiding in the non-IE 30% of
Germanic. But then one would have to postulate the existence of a non-
IE language with no known affinities in the Pontic area at a time
when it supposedly was populated with Iranian-speakers (on the other
hand some of the Iranian etymologies for the names then and there
don't convince me).

>And you mean Herodotus mentioned the "Dans" calling them a
> Germanic tribe or how?

He mentions a name similar to 'Germani', and 'Daha' together in one
sentence, I forgot where. It's mentioned somewhere in the archive.

Torsten