LL-L "Etymology" 2003.08.10 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 10.AUG.2003 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Stella en Henno <stellahenno at hetnet.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2003.08.09 (04) [E/LS]

> From: Friedrich-Wilhelm Neumann <Fieteding at gmx.net>
> Subject: Etymology
>
> Dear Lowlanders, Ron,
>
> two words in English I am interested in:
>
> first: the contradictory of "host" and "hostile"; possibly cognate with
> the sacrated "host", (UG, deriving from Latin): "Hostie"?
>
The Latin word _hostis_ (stranger, enemy) is cognate to the Germanic *gast-:
both derive from Indo-European *ghosti- (same meaning). Gothic _gasts_ still
had the meaning _stranger_. Of course the change from _stranger_ to _enemy_
is easily made.. (unfortunately). Maybe the English word "host" somehow
derives from Latin hospes (host), from *hosti+potis ("stranger + master") ?
I do not have the OED, so I cannot check, but maybe someone else could shed
some more light on this?
The word "Hostie" (also Dutch) derives from the Latin word _hostia_:
sacrifice.

> second: the conjugation of "to go" to the imperfect form "went". Could I
> be right assuming it's deriving from (Latin): "venire"?
> *For You did go, You will be there*? It would seem nearly amusing.
>
It doesn't derive from Latin. The word "went" is the past tense of the now
extinct (maybe still in dialects) word "to wend", a cognate of the Dutch and
German word _wenden_, to turn, (also Old Saxon _wendian_ (so now probably
_wenden_ as well?), Old Frisian wenda (Modern West Frisian _weine_ with "ein
< end", as usual) Anglo-Saxon _wendan_, Old Norse _venda_, Gothic _wandjan_;
so the a is the oldest form, the e derives from old i-mutation (umlaut), it
is a causative ablaut form to _to wind_, Dutch, German _winden_, West
Frisian _wine_ etc. which in the end is ultimately a root
*wendh- in Indo-European (also related: Dutch wand, ingewand, wandelen..)
In Anglo-Saxon the word already could mean _to turn oneself_, _to go_.
Its past tense suppleted the original past tense of _to go_.

Henno Brandsma

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

And in English the meaning of (_hostis_ >) 'host', 'stranger', 'foreigner'
came to be extended to mean 'horde', 'multitude,' 'large number', probably
originally referring to large hordes of foreign people (= enemies), later to
be generalized, as in "a host of questions."  In Christianity it is still
used in the sense of 'multitude of "warriors"', as in "heavenly host" and
"Lord of the Hosts" (= God).

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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