Sum: German Forst 'forest'

[Larry Trask]

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Some days ago I posted a query about the disputed etymology of
German <Forst> 'forest'.  I got only three replies, but those
were interesting.

The query was whether German <Forst> derives, like English 'forest',
from a late Latin word, or whether it is a native word derived
ultimately from the German word for 'fir tree'.

Two of the respondents were skeptical of the German etymology.
One of them suggested it might be a residue of the unfortunate
Romantic tendency to seek "Germanic" etymologies for loans from
Latin.  The third, however, was much more enthusiastic about the
Germanic etymology, and noted that the derivation of late Latin
<forestis> from <foris> 'outside' is far from secure, and that
a loan from Germanic has been suggested.  Well, turnabout is fair
play, I guess.

Anyway, it appears that I cannot yet add 'forest' and <Forst>
to my little collection of striking chance resemblances.  But one
of my respondents (SG) sent in a couple of lovely examples of
chance resemblances:

German /Scheune/ "shack" : Coptic /shoine/ id.
German /Schuh/ "shoe" : Itelmen /sxu/ (works even better with Dutch)
aso.

(Itelmen is a Chukcho-Kamchatkan language of eastern Siberia.)

My thanks to David Fertig, Stefan Georg, and Paolo Ramat.


Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk

Tel: 01273-678693 (from UK); +44-1273-678693 (from abroad)
Fax: 01273-671320 (from UK); +44-1273-671320 (from abroad)