Re: Island
| From: | Lars Henrik Mathiesen <thorinn@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, May 14, 2000, 23:21 |
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> Date: Sun, 14 May 2000 16:57:51 -0400
> From: Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...>
> Lars Henrik Mathiesen wrote:
> > The early Germanic word was *auia, however.
>
> I've seen that translated, however, as simply "land associated with
> water", and said to be distantly related to Latin _aqua_.
Well, then Scadinauia makes more sense. Danish ø unequivocally means
island, however, so the meaning has changed.
IIRC, the cognate to aqua in Danish is å (Norse á) meaning river. That
doesn't mean that *auia can't be related to the same root, of course.
Lars Mathiesen (U of Copenhagen CS Dep) <thorinn@...> (Humour NOT marked)