--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
> I thought something like this: the Germani might have called
> themselves Ermani (< Iranian *aryaman), cf. Alemanni, Arminius...
???
Why should the ancient Germani have designated themselves by an
Iranian-derived ethnonym? The ethnonym Arya-/A:rya- and its
derivatives had no currency outside the Indo-Iranian-speaking world
(N.B. Celtic Eire is not derived from it!).
The standard etymology for Alamanni, cited in most etymological
dictionaries, is from the Germanic ethnonym *Alamanniz 'all men' (fom
Proto-Germanic *ala- 'all' and *manniz- 'men'). This name may
indicate that they were a confederation of various tribes. The
Alamanni were first mentioned by Cassius Dio describing the campaign
of Caracalla in 213 CE.
Arminius is probably a Latinized variant of the Germanic name Irmin
meaning 'great'. Cf. the Latin ethnonym (first attested in Tacitus'
_Germania_) for a group of early Germanic tribe, the Irminones, also
referred to as Herminones or Hermiones. Pokorny derives Germanic
Irmin from the -m suffixed form of the PIE root *ar-1; the Proto-
Germanic form would be *erminaz, *ermenaz or *ermunaz (in personal
names), with the meanining 'big, great, large, strong, tall, whole
etc.'
Regards,
Francesco