: German compounds

[Eduard Selleslagh]

-----Original Message-----
From: CONNOLLY at LATTE.MEMPHIS.EDU <CONNOLLY at LATTE.MEMPHIS.EDU>
Date: Friday, April 16, 1999 5:07 PM

Leo A. Connolly  wrote:

[snip]

>Kluge adds that there was at least one Germanic word word for glove, the form
>of which must have been approximately *_wand_-, referring to something knitted
>("wound"), with a possible second one *_skinthaz_ 'hide' borrowed into Finnish
>to yield modern _kinnas_ (genitive _kintaan_) 'glove'.  If Kluge is right,
>_Handschuh_ represents not compounding for lack of a proper word, but rather
>folk etymology.

[Ed Selleslagh]
Very interesting, I wasn't aware of that.
Dutch still uses the word 'want' for 'mitten'. 'Glove' is 'handschoen', a
similar formation as in German.
BTW, the stem 'and-' is frequent in toponyms in German and Dutch speaking
areas, usually to indicate a place opposite something, mostly on the other
side of a river etc. (Antwerpen, Elst/Andelst, Baden/Ennetbaden... and also
in Greece: Rion/Andirion) and of couse also in 'Antwort/antwoord', but
that's common knowledge I guess. Note that the meaning of 'and-' is rather
'opposite, in front of, before ('gegenueber/tegenover') than 'counter-'
('gegen-/tegen-', 'anti-' in the modern sense), just like the preposition
'ante' in Latin (in its spatial meaning).

Ed Selleslagh