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Derivation or origin of the word Deutsch, what do you know?
Today, and i know this isn’t a strictly grammatical subject but i wanted to put out a simple request, because i want to know what essentially is the meaning of the word ‘Deutsch’, i know we use it as ‘German’ in English, but can someone either a native speaker or someone with a good German knowledge please explain to me what ‘Deutsch’ refers to? I guess it is something ‘like’ in England and the English. I know England isn’t the land of the Eng’s but it was the Island of the Ang-lo Saxons, so perhaps Eng comes from Ang? Is it similar in German, Deut-sch meaning something in particular? I read it refers to the people or folk, is this correct?
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The name of Germany is actually a surprisingly intricate subject, as many languages use words with completely different ethymologies to refer to this country (for instance, in French it's called "Allemagne"). It even has its own wikipedia article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany which states the following regarding the ethymology of the name "Deutschland":
The name Deutschland and the other similar-sounding names above are derived from the Old High German diutisc, or similar variants from Proto-Germanic Þeudiskaz, which originally meant "of the people". This in turn comes from a Germanic word meaning "folk" (leading to Old High German diot, Middle High German diet), and was used to differentiate between the speakers of Germanic languages and those who spoke Celtic or Romance languages. These words come from teuta, the Proto-Indo-European word for "people" (Lithuanian tauta, Old Irish tuath, Old English þeod).
- 1141
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Qb_dfIjw0
The video is English and its title is Names for Germany. Have fun!
Oh nice, I thought of that one too, but decided for the shortest one.
Rewboss's channel is great for all things German.
- 1141
Attention: be fun=Spaß machen
"Ich werde hier noch einmal schreiben, ob es Spaß gemacht hat (es anzusehen)/ob es mir gefallen hat."
Hallo, i had to translate what you said to me by an app... ..."I'll write here again if it was fun (to look at it) / liked it." Ist das Korrekt? [meaning] a correct translation? i mean.
If i understood you correctly, you meant you'll visit my threads again because you found them fun, or 'if' you find them fun.
Or have i missed your point entirely, let me know please.
Oh, i have just read my comment again, you were correcting me for when i said 'if it was... Spass [fun], ich verstehe jetzt. Entschuldigung und danke fur ihre Bemerkung. [comment].
- 1710
by the way, Anglo-Saxons are derived from two northern Germanic tribes, the saxons and those from Angeln, a landscape in the very north of Germany (a bit south of Flensburg), obviously two of the early "visitors" from Germany to the British coast.
I think that answers it completely, so thank you. I don't think i need any more comments on this subject but if you have any thing else of interest to add please do.
- 34
More interesting information:
The þeudiskaz - rooted word is the same word used for most other Germanic-rooted languages: duits, dütsch, ditsch, dutch, tysk, þyskur, etc. As well as the Medieval Latin term for the German language: theodiscus. Theodiscus also gives us the Italian term for a German (tedesco), but not for Germany itself.
Germany and Germany-related words (e.g. Germania in Italian, Γερμανία in Greek, Германия in Russian, etc.) come from Lat. Germani, a name first appearing in Julius Caesar's De Bello Gallico, and was presumably an exonym taken from the Germans themselves, but we really have no idea where the term came from or what it means originally.
The Romance terms for the speakers/region - Fr. allemand, Sp. alemán, Cat. alemany, Por. alemão, etc. come from a Late Latin word Alemannus, again an exonym taken from a German tribe/federation. This one's original meaning is far more ostensible: coming from PGmc Alamanniz -> allaz (all) + *mann- (people). In a way, þeudiskaz and Alamanniz can be seen as synonymous; both relating to people, and in particular a large population of people
The Slavic word for German is nemici, seen in: Rus. не́мец, Bulg. немец, Slovene Nẹ́məc, Czech, Němec, Pol. Niemiec, as well as Arabic, nimsaa, Magy. német, and Rom. neamt. This word comes from a PSlavic root *němъ meaning "mute", and a nemici is a "mute person" (taken to mean "someone who doesn't speak Slavic)
