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From: deb5@ellis.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: Pronouncing your name in another language
Message-ID: <1995Jan19.025541.26595@midway.uchicago.edu>
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Organization: University of Chicago
References: <9501423.14645@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU> <1995Jan15.020738.21297@midway.uchicago.edu> <3fjof1$lk2@scratchy.reed.edu>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 1995 02:55:41 GMT
Lines: 36

In article <3fjof1$lk2@scratchy.reed.edu> pproszyn@reed.edu (PCP - Piotr C. Proszynski) writes:
[much about pronoun use deleted]

>>Nemecko (hacek over the first e) from a root meaning "mute, unable
>>to speak" (because they couldn't speak Slavic).
>
>Same as "Niemcy" in Polish, from "niemy" - "mute". Very interestingly, 
>the Danish/Norse word for Germany, "Tyskland", is also cognate with the 
>word "mute/quiet" ("tysk"). This is strange, because while Slavs might be 
>completely baffled by the sound of German, it's odd that anyone speaking 
>North Germanic languages would be. Perhaps they were simply vewy vewy 
>quiet as they rampaged around Europe in the Dark Ages...

I don't know the origin of the Danish word 'tysk' meaning "mute," never-
theless I'm confident this is merely a phonetic coincidence.  Scandanavian
'tysk', "German", is clearly a reflex of Germanic *theudisko-, though I
can't say whether it is a direct descendant of the Old Norse reflex or a
latter borrowing from German (almost asssuredly Low German).

Sorry for all the uncertainties in this post.  A Norse historical dictio-
nary awaits me at work tomorrow.

>It'd be nice to have a Danish speaker corroborate this, as mine is 
>getting rustier by the minute - perhaps I'm imagining this.

Given the way Danish is spoken (as their Germanic neighbors put it,
"with a warm potato in the mouth"), "mute," or at least "ununderstanda-
ble" would be a better description of them! ^_^
>
>Peter "Not as abrasive as some other Poles, Daniel" Proszynski.

Now, now, no sniping.  I won't have it done in my name!
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
