Hi Torsten and Al,
I have been following closely your recent topics in which Tacitus has been
extensively quoted. Speaking of the devil (Tacitus' Germanic tribes) , I
came across a passage, which any way it is scrutinized, will either
demonstrate that something in the linguistic interpretation is grossly amiss
or it will drastically alter many current perceptions on the subject
discussed.
The passage in question posted below, along with the dictionary etymology,
refers to the so called " Hamaland, and /or the Chamavi a Germanic tribe of
Late Antiquity and the European Dark Age. They first appear under that name
in the 1st century AD Germania of Tacitus as a Germanic tribe that, for most
of their history, existed along the North bank of the Lower Rhine in the
region today called Hamaland after them, which is in the Gelderland province
of the Netherlands. Tacitus ( locates them to the west of the Frisians.
These passages in Tacitus raise the question, if Hamaland is the former
territory of the Bructeri, where were the Chamavi before then? One answer is
that they occupied the coastal plain to the north (Germans moved almost
invariably from north to south). Many settlements are named Hamm, including
possibly a modern city, Hamburg. The name may have come from the Germanic
equivalent of Chamavi.
The best etymology derives Ham- from common Germanic *haimaz, "home", from
Indo-European *tkei-, "settle", from which the High German place-name suffix
-heim. The ham- form, "settlement", seems to have come from North Sea
Germanic , as we acquired it through Dutch and French. The -AVI, an
adjectival ending, later resulted in -au in other place names, but was
dropped in this one Chamavi in this derivation would mean "men of the
settlements" or "settlers." When and in what sense they were so is lost in
prehistory."
ETYMOLOGY:
Home O.E. Ham "dwelling, house, estate, village," from P.Gmc. *khaim- (cf. O
Fris. Hem "home, village," O.N. Heimr "residence, world," heima "home," Ger.
Heim "home," Goth. Haims "village"), from PIE base *tkei- "to lie, settle
down" (cf. Skt. Kseti "abides, dwells," Armenian shen "inhabited," Gk. Kome,
Lith. Kaimas "village;" O.C.S. Semija "domestic servants").
HEIMA, adv. I. Neut. [Engl. Home; Germ. Heimath; Dan. Hjem and hjemme] :--
home, = heimili; en ER kaupmenn drifu af skipi hverr til síns heima, Fms. Vi
109; skulu hvárigir öðrum þar íllt gera at heima mínu, Nj. 256; urðu þeir
at ganga langa leið til síns heima, Bs. I. 47, Korm. 222, Stj. 393; til þíns
heima, 484; ef eigi kemr tröll milli húss ok heima, Fms. Viii. 41. 2. The
phrase, eiga heima, to have a home, live; Hallfreðr átti heima at Haukagili,
Fms. Ii. 9; þeim megin árinnar sem hann átti h., Bs. I, Hkv. 2. 4, and
passim. II. At home; var Rútr h. At Rútsstöðum til sex vikna, Nj. 10; heima
hafðir þú vit þitt, ER þú sagðir mér til, Hrafn. 8; fátt var manna heima,
Landn. 152; heima glaðr, cheerful, gladsome at home, Hm. 102; h. í görðum
goða, Vþm. 2, passim: sayings, dælt ER h. Hvat, Hm. 5; halr ER h. Hverr, 35.
. Phrases, standa h., to square, be all right, of a measure or the like: the
phrase, sitja heima sem mær til kosta (heima-sæta), to stay at home as a
maid, Sams. S.; þat þykkjumk ek vita, at eigi munum vit Allan aldr okkar
úgiptar heima sitja, Sturl. I. 206. "
Haima m. Dorf, Heim, Heimat, acc. Haima nach Hause, haimanô von Hause. G.
Haims f. (St. Haimi) pl. haimôs Dorf, Flecken; an. Heimr m. Heimat, Welt,
heima n. Heimat, heim adv. Nach Hause, heima (dat. Sg. Von heima n.) zu
Hause, heíman von Hause; as. hêm m. N. Heimat, afries. hâm, hêm, ags. hâm m.
Heimat, Haus, Wohnung, hâm adv. Nach Hause, engl. Home; had. Mhd. Heim m. N.
Haus, Heimat, had. Heima, mhd. Heime f. Dass.; adv. Dat. Had. Heimi, mhd.
Heime, as. hême zu Hause, acc. Had. Mhd. Heira nach Hause; had. Adv. Heimina
von Hause, heimenân aus der Heimat, mhd. Heimen, heimenen zu Hause. - an.
Heimskr dumm (immer zu Hause hockend), aber had. Heimisc, mhd. Nhd. Heimisch
Dazu ags. Hman (= haimian) beischlafen (urspr. »heimführen«), mhd. Heimen
heimführen, heiraten. Vgl. Gr. [koi'maw] bette, schläfere ein. Lett. Saime,
Gesindel, lit. szeimýna f. Gesinde, Hausdienerschaft, preuß. seimíns Gesinde
asl. Smija dass., sm Person. (Unsicher. Andere vergleichen lit. Kmas
Bauernhof, kaimýnas Nachbar, preuß. Caymis Dorf, gr. [kw'mh] Dorf).
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Now, compare P.Gmc. *khaim- with the corresponding Arabic term Khayma root
of Khaym:
والخَيْمَةُ عند العرب: البيت والمنزل، وسميت خَيْمَةً لأن صاحبها يتخذها
كالمنزل الأَصلي
خام يَخِيمُ وخَيِّمُ وَخَيَّمَ يُخَيِّمُ إذا أقام بالمكان،
For those interested in the English translation of the definition, click the
following URL:
http://www.theegyptianchronicles.com/NOSTRATIC/KHAYMA.html
Also google `Umar al-Khayyam:
Khayyám's full name was Ghiyath al-Din Abu'l-Fath Umar ibn Ibrahim
Al-Nishapuri al-Khayyami ( غیاث الدین ابو الفتح عمر بن ابراهیم خیام
نیشاپوری). He is thought to have been born into a family of tent makers
(al-khayyami, lit. In Arabic "tent-maker"), which he would make this into a
play on words later in life:
"Khayyám, who stitched the tents of science,
Has fallen in grief's furnace and been suddenly burned,
The shears of Fate have cut the tent ropes of his life,
And the broker of Hope has sold him for nothing!
– Omar Khayyám[
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As for "The -AVI, an adjectival ending, later resulted in -au in other place
names", simply compare it with the corresponding Arabic ending, -Awy. Which
is added to names for the exact same purpose. (See below)
فرنسا > فرنساوى , مصر> مصراوى , صحراء > صحراوى
TRANSLITERATION:
FaransA/ FaransAwy, Mas.r/Mas.rAwy and S.ah.arA'/S.ah.rAwy
Translated as: France/French, Egypt/Egyptian and Sahara/Saharian
In addition when it is reported in the Wiki article that: "two other
peoples of Ptolemy wear the *haimaz name: the Chaemae and the Banochaemae.
These polities were in what became the High German range. There is no reason
to assume they were the Chamavi, although the identification cannot be ruled
out either. Ptolemy treats them as distinct peoples." The "Banochaemae"
term could easily be a reference to the Banw al-khaymah, In this case the
prefix bano- is no other than the Semitic banw (literally: the sons of)
which is a standard designation for any tribe.
CONCLUSION: Since all the debaters in this forum, without exception, are
using the linguistic vehicle to buttress their pet theories. I am therefore
bringing these facts to their attention with the hope that they can explain
this coincidence among unrelated languages (Arabic, Germanic and Baltic) and
what is the ensuing implication if any.
Best regards
Ishinan
May 15, 2011
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