A Wanderwort (German: [ˈvandɐˌvɔɐt], 'migrant word', plural Wanderwörter; capitalized like all German nouns) is a word that has spread as a loanword among numerous languages and cultures, especially those that are far away from one another, usually in connection with trade. As such, Wanderwörter are a curiosity in historical linguistics and sociolinguistics within a wider study of language contact.[1] At a sufficient time depth, it can be very difficult to establish in which language or language family it originated and in which it was borrowed.
Examples
Typical examples of Wanderwörter are cannabis, sugar,[2]ginger, copper,[1]silver,[3]cumin, mint, wine and honey, some of which can be traced back to Bronze Age trade.
Tea, with its maritime variant tea and Eurasian continental variant chai (both variants have entered English), is an example[1] whose spread occurred relatively late in human history and is therefore fairly well understood: tea is from Hokkien, specifically Amoy, from the Fujianese port of Xiamen, hence maritime, while cha (whence chai[4]) is used in Cantonese and Mandarin.[5] See etymology of tea for further details.
Farang, a term derived from the ethnonymFrank through Arabic and Persian, refers to (typically white, European) foreigners. From the above two languages, the word has been loaned into many languages spoken on or near the Indian Ocean, including Hindi, Thai, and Amharic, among others.
Another example is the word arslan ("lion") of Turkic origin, whose variants are now widely distributed from Hungarian, Manchu to Persian, although they merely serve as personal names in some languages. It also inspired the name Aslan in the English novel series The Chronicles of Narnia.
^ abcTrask, Robert Lawrence (January 2000). The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Psychology Press. p. 366. ISBN1-57958-218-4. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^Hock, Hans Henrich; Joseph, Brian D. (1 January 1996). Language History, Language Change, and Language Relationship: An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Walter de Gruyter. p. 254. ISBN3-11-014784-X. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^Boutkan, Dirk; Kossmann, Maarten (2001). "On the Etymology of 'Silver'". North-Western European Language Evolution. 3: 3–15. doi:10.1075/nowele.38.01bou. Retrieved 12 October 2014.
^"chai". American Heritage Dictionary. chai: A beverage made from spiced black tea, honey, and milk. Etymology: Ultimately from Chinese (Mandarin) chá.
^Dahl, Östen. "Feature/Chapter 138: Tea". The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Digital Library. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
^Adams, Douglas Q. (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. ISBN1-884964-98-2.
^Benedict, Paul K. (15 June 1972). Matisoff, James A. (ed.). "Sino-Tibetan: A Conspectus".
Look up Wanderwort in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
wanderwort, german, ˈvandɐˌvɔɐt, migrant, word, plural, wanderwörter, capitalized, like, german, nouns, word, that, spread, loanword, among, numerous, languages, cultures, especially, those, that, away, from, another, usually, connection, with, trade, such, wa. A Wanderwort German ˈvandɐˌvɔɐt migrant word plural Wanderworter capitalized like all German nouns is a word that has spread as a loanword among numerous languages and cultures especially those that are far away from one another usually in connection with trade As such Wanderworter are a curiosity in historical linguistics and sociolinguistics within a wider study of language contact 1 At a sufficient time depth it can be very difficult to establish in which language or language family it originated and in which it was borrowed Examples EditTypical examples of Wanderworter are cannabis sugar 2 ginger copper 1 silver 3 cumin mint wine and honey some of which can be traced back to Bronze Age trade Tea with its maritime variant tea and Eurasian continental variant chai both variants have entered English is an example 1 whose spread occurred relatively late in human history and is therefore fairly well understood tea is from Hokkien specifically Amoy from the Fujianese port of Xiamen hence maritime while cha whence chai 4 is used in Cantonese and Mandarin 5 See etymology of tea for further details Farang a term derived from the ethnonym Frank through Arabic and Persian refers to typically white European foreigners From the above two languages the word has been loaned into many languages spoken on or near the Indian Ocean including Hindi Thai and Amharic among others Another example is orange which originated in a Dravidian language likely Tamil Telugu or Malayalam and whose likely path to English included in order Sanskrit Persian possibly Armenian Arabic Late Latin citation needed Italian and Old French See Orange word Etymology for further details Another example is the word arslan lion of Turkic origin whose variants are now widely distributed from Hungarian Manchu to Persian although they merely serve as personal names in some languages It also inspired the name Aslan in the English novel series The Chronicles of Narnia The word for horse across many Eurasian languages seem to be related such as Mongolian mor mor Manchu ᠮᠣᡵᡳᠨ morin Korean 말 mal Japanese 馬 uma and Thai ma maː as well as Sino Tibetan languages leading to Mandarin 馬 mǎ and Tibetan ར ང rmang It is present in several Indo European languages as well but limited only to the Celtic and Germanic branches whence Irish marc or English mare 6 7 References Edit a b c Trask Robert Lawrence January 2000 The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics Psychology Press p 366 ISBN 1 57958 218 4 Retrieved 12 October 2014 Hock Hans Henrich Joseph Brian D 1 January 1996 Language History Language Change and Language Relationship An Introduction to Historical and Comparative Linguistics Walter de Gruyter p 254 ISBN 3 11 014784 X Retrieved 12 October 2014 Boutkan Dirk Kossmann Maarten 2001 On the Etymology of Silver North Western European Language Evolution 3 3 15 doi 10 1075 nowele 38 01bou Retrieved 12 October 2014 chai American Heritage Dictionary chai A beverage made from spiced black tea honey and milk Etymology Ultimately from Chinese Mandarin cha Dahl Osten Feature Chapter 138 Tea The World Atlas of Language Structures Online Max Planck Digital Library Retrieved 4 June 2008 Adams Douglas Q 1997 Encyclopedia of Indo European Culture ISBN 1 884964 98 2 Benedict Paul K 15 June 1972 Matisoff James A ed Sino Tibetan A Conspectus Look up Wanderwort in Wiktionary the free dictionary This article about historical linguistics is a stub You can help Wikipedia by expanding it vte Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Wanderwort amp oldid 1126746427, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
