LL-L "Etymology" 2005.09.11 (10) [E]

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From: Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at nb.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.09.10 (04) [E]

>The origin of Old German _ganzo_ ~ _ganz_ and its spawn is supposedly
>shrouded in mystery.  I have a wild hypothesis proposal.  I wonder if it
>is in some way related with the word _Hanse_ (= Hanseatic League) which
>goes back to Germanic *_hansô-_ 'horde', 'swarm', 'host', 'unit',
>'allegiance' (cf., e.g., Old English _hôs_, Gothic, Old German, Old Saxon
>_hansa_).  If this holds any water at all, it could have even been
>contracted from *_gi-hans-_.

Along somewhat similar lines ....

The apparent absence of "ganz" cognates in Old English, Old Norse, etc.
would seem to be compatible with (among other things) a loan from Latin.
Classical Latin "gens" = "tribe"/"clan" or so is not much more than an
umlaut away from "ganz" phonetically, and "gens" was used as an
intensifier, I believe, at least in "minime gentium" = "by no means".

This looks like something somebody must have proposed >100 years ago. I
have no idea whether such a notion is viable; just woolgathering ....

-- Doug Wilson

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

Nice one, Doug!  And it's great to hear from you!

"Woolgathering" though it may be, I like your reach and your spunk.  :-) 
I've been toying around with similar "wild" possibilities, and I enjoy 
company.

I had also thought of a possible Latin or Continental Celtic origin 
(considering that southern German has Celtic substrates), and those two were 
rather closely related, which could account for the vowel difference.  But 
no such luck in Celtic etymological lists ...  Nothing in Sanskrit either 
... :-(

I've been thinking that Old German _ganz(o)_ should actually come from 
*_ganto_.

It's a mystery!

Reinhard/Ron

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