From: Piotr Gasiorowski
Message: 26428
Date: 2003-10-14
----- Original Message -----
From: "papastolte" <davisf1@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2003 4:06 AM
Subject: [tied] "ger"
> i am a lay, very lay, person who has been a member of this group for
> a couple of years, reading only, never posting. but, now, i'm
> wondering if anyone would be willing to respond to a question i have
> about the word "ger", which i have heard is the hebrew
> for 'stranger'. does the word 'stranGER' contain the 'ger' as a
> result of its general use from the hebrew, or is there a source
> common to both hebrew and german for this syllable (would you call it
> a 'root'?). for that matter, what about the 'ger' in 'GERman'?
> ~fran
The word <stranger> has never contained a phonetic [g]; it comes from Old
French <estrangier> (with <g> pronounced as in Modern English), a derivative
of <estrange> 'foreign, strange' from Latin <extra:neus>. The development
was /-ne-/ > /-nj-/ (before a vowel) > /-ndZ-/. Of course it has nothing to
do with Hebrew <ger> (which, by the way, meant a naturalised newcomer living
among the Israelites rather than an alien, foreigner or estranged person --
other words, especially <zar>, were used in such cases, as far as I know).
The origin of <germa:nus> as an ethnic term is debated; I'm now inclined to
think that it's simply the Latin common adjective <germa:nus> 'having the
same ancestors', translating an original Germanic ethnonym. No thinkable
connection with Hebrew.
Piotr