--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Michal Milewski" <milewski@...>
wrote:
> Hello everyone,
> What is the etymology of the Polish word <fala> (wave)? Is it a
borrowing from German(ic)? Is it related to German verb <fallen> and
English <fall>)?
> Thanks in advance,
> Michal
***********
From my Buck's Synonyms again:
"Derivs. of IE *wel- 'turn, roll' ... OHG. 'wella', MHG, NHG 'welle',
Lith., Lett. 'vilnis', ChSl. 'vluna', 'valu', etc. general Slavic (but
Po. 'fala', now the usual word, from NHG. 'welle')."
The inherited Slav. and the Ger. are so close, I don't see how
borrowing is distinguished from parallel development, but there it is.
The Eng. 'fall' (no etym. beyond OE in Watkins, Balt. and Arm.
relatives in Buck and Pokorny) is unrelated.
Dan Milton