Gothic influence on Spanish language?

[David Kiltz]

On 06.03.2007, at 20:33, Jason Polchinski wrote:

> I am also
> curious about the root word of guerra (sp.)/guerre (fr.), since the  
> word for
> war in Latin is "bellum." Is there a Germanic root there?

Yes, it looks like (Old) Frankish _werra_ is the source of French  
_guerre_.  As for Spanish _guerra_ I'm not sure whether the word  
entered the language via French or whether it's an independent loan  
from some Germanic superstrate language. Thirdly, the word might have  
been absorbed into colloquial Latin even earlier. Anyhow, the  
Germanic origin is undisputed.

Best,
David

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