LL-L "Language history" 2010.07.21 (03) [EN]

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 21 July 2010 - Volume 03
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language history"



Beste Mike,

You wrote:

> In fact though, Russian полк /polk/ "troop" going back to Common Slavic
*pъlkъ -- although previously generally argued to go back to a borrowing
from Gothic (which i guess then would have borrowed it from a non-IE
substrate?) -- and clearly related  Lithuanian pulkas "crowd, herd, troop"
and Latvian pulks "troop, multitude" (ok, I know! Baltic COULD also have
borrowed from Gothic... directly or via common Slavic), all seem to have a
clear and simple IE etymology (< *pel- etc (Pokorny I, 798ff) "fill",
"multitude" + IE suffix -k- / i.e. Pokorny's -go-) .. an etymology proposed
already in the 1880s by Miklosich.
>
> AND, although with different nominal suffixes or other add-ons, we have
Latin plebs (semantically very close to the idea of a "folk"), Greek
Πλειαδες "Pleiads" (thus related  πληθος as in plethora, and also to Persian
name for the same star cluster پروین /parvin/ it would seem, pacem Greek
folk etymologies to the contrary), Welsh (sic) lliaws"multitude" ... and
this is the SAME root, without any add-ons in Indic -पुर: /pura/ "city" (as
in Singapur, as well as Jaipur, Gorakhpur, Janakpur, etc) and related Greek
πολις "city" ... also being, like a "folk", basically a collection of a
multitude of people

Also Greek πολύς , much, many, poly-, a multitude, Latin plūs, more of
something and Old Norse fjöl, German viel, Brabantish vööl: many. Maybe the
final -k- in "Volk" can be interpreted as a suffix denoting "a collection
of"?
Compare Dutch "menig" (many) > "menigte" (a crowd).

Would the idea to give "folk" a "Sonderstatus" (Germanic, but not IE) be
rooted in a folkloric (sic) movement trying to keep pure whatever it
considers the core of its language? The notion of "a people", "ein Volk" is
of course important all over the world, but I tend to think it was valued
even higher in old Germania, where hierarchy seems to have been somewhat
flatter than in Latin (and Greek?) speaking societies, cf. "Dutch" =
language of the people (in opposition to Latin), first used by Charlemagne,
of all people ;=), when addressing the Pope. By the way, I don't consider it
likely there will ever be an Italian car...branded "Macchina del Popolo" (~
Volkswagen) ;=)

No coincidence either that the former motto of the most popular right wing
political party in Belgium "Vlaams Belang" was "Eigen volk eerst" (Own
people first). Another "core"-word there "eigen", as in one of the few
German words that made it straight into English "eigenvalue", "eigenvector"
and "eigenspace", all mathematical concepts in linear algebra.

"Eigen" (G, D) ~ "to own" (E).

Two simple words "eigen" (~ to possess) and "volk" (~ be numerous), that
some view as the mere ingredients to make a nation.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium



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