LL-L "Etymology" 2005.04.04 (04) [E]

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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.04.03 (06) [E]


Ron wrote in reply to Arthur Jones:
"Gothic _runa_ appears to be general Germanic, related to English "rune,"
which is related to German _raunen_ 'to whisper', 'to speak in a low voice',
usually implying secretive communiction. Hence, I understand "runic writing"
and "runic letters" to have originated as sacred and thus privileged
information, as information that was passed on secretly."

Irish has _rún_ for "secret" and thus _rúnaí_ for "secretary". I have always
noted the clear link with "rune", and suspected it to be a borrowing from
Old Norse, although exactly how I do not know. Most Norse borrowings in
Irish relate to the sea and maritime occupations, for obvious reasons.

Go raibh maith agaibh,

Críostóir.

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

Thanks, Críostóir.  Isn't that interesting?

Is there any particular reason why you suspect it to be an Old Norse loan?
Could it not have reached Irish from Old English?

Old English, too, has _rún_ in the sense of 'secret', 'mystery' (earliest
attestation in the _Lindisfarn Gospel_ of 950), apparently not as a Norse
loan but as a native word with the assumedly secondary meanings 'mysterious
saying', 'confidential counsel', also 'runic letter', 'written language',
'song', 'cry', 'language variety'.  This developed into the now archaic word
_roun_ ~ _roune_ ~ _rowne_.  The word _rune_ in the specific sense of
'Nordic written character' came to be (re)introduced (supposedly from
Danish) in the 17th century with Nordic studies.  In more recent times, this
has been extended to scripts of similar (often astonishingly similar) look,
such as Old Hungarian (Székely-Magyar) and Old (Orkhon) Turkic runes, as
well as some non-runic scripts such as several discovered in Siberia and
North America.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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