Re: Beating the Dutch

Nik Taylor scripsit:

> > I think that "German" wasn't commonly used before the unification at all.
>
> Oh, interesting.  Then, what made English-speaking people decide to use
> "German" for the unified nation, I wonder?  :-)
It's a learned Latinism, and has some currency even within German,
e.g. _Germanist_ = 'one who studies German or the Germanic languages'.
Compare English _Estonia_ with Dutch _Estland_.

--
John Cowan <jcowan@...>     http://www.reutershealth.com
I amar prestar aen, han mathon ne nen,    http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
han mathon ne chae, a han noston ne 'wilith.  --Galadriel, _LOTR:FOTR_