[Note: All Basque words are in Italics and Bold-faced Green]
THE ORIGIN OF GERMAN *
(Contact)
What we call the "German language," the
Germans call "Deutsch." Where did the word "Deutsch"
come from? Edo Nyland has shown how Benedictine monks, while working in their
many scriptoria, made up tens of thousands of words and names, many of which
we now use daily, by manipulating the Basque language. To understand the
following it is necessary to be
acquainted with discussions on Ogam , the origin of English and Dutch,. Being religious types, it should come as no
surprise that the monks hid biblical phrases in important words. As they used
the VCV vowel interlocking formula for
word-agglutination, vowel linking was required. In the case of Deutsch
the diphthong of both words overlaps: "deu
- eutsch," This is obviously an abbreviation of "May the Lord
bless you and keep you" (Numbers 6:24). The word "Deutsch" was probably at first
designed as a greeting. (In Basque the "s" is always pronounced
with a slight "sh," and written as "x"). The Dutch
language is called "Diets" in Holland, said to be a derivative of
"deutsch," but no, it comes from .di-its., adi-itze: adibegiratu (pay close
attention to) itzeman (promise):
"Pay close attention to your promises" or "Be true to your
word", or as they sing in Holland: "Een man een man, een woord
een woord". FIRST SOME
GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Consider the name of the River Rhine. The Germans write it "Rhein"
(same pronunciation). The river was renowned as one of the world's most
productive salmon rivers. So much fish was caught in the Rhine before the 20th
Century that many domestic servants in cities along the river had a clause in
their contract saying that they would not be obliged to eat salmon more than
twice a week. It is not surprising that the Basque word for fish is arrain. Put
"ar" in front of "Rhine" and you know where the name came
from. The name "Berlin" is slightly more
complicated. The monks assembled it from three words: .be-erli-in.: abe-erli-inu, abergikor (hospitable) erlijiozale (pious) inurritze (inspiring): A
hospitable, pious and inspiring town. These words sound like they belong
on the town's coat of arms, which happens to depict a bear. "Berlin"
does sound like a little bear, however; bear in Basque is hartz, which is the
name of the well-known mountainous area west of Berlin. The name of the fortified city of "Stettin"
takes more time to decode but still conforms strictly to the VCV
Formula .s.-.te-et.-.ti-in. On the
other hand the name "Lübeck" falls quickly into place: lu-ube-ek., lu-ube-eka Tirol is an easy one: tiro-ol: Or Yodel, jo-del: In Germany, it is impossible to get away from the
Basque language, the place names, the family names, the mountains, even in
music. In the well-known song "Ein Heller und ein Batzen,"
the Heller buys a drink of water; the Batzen buys a glass of wine. Heller
comes from ele-er, ele (story) erdi (half):
"half a story," we would say "for a song." Batzen
comes from bat-zen: bat (one) zenbatu (to count): Count
one. In the past, several German and other European students in
linguistics have pointed out this unexplained relationship between Basque and
German, especially in southern Germany, closer to the Alps where the
pre-Christian language survived the longest and still is used in several
isolated valleys in a number of dialects called Rhaeto-Romance or Ladin.
However, like everywhere else in Europe and North America, the suggestion
that the Germans spoke Basque before they spoke German was always squashed by
more senior academics with the words: "That relationship has been looked
into so many times and it doesn't exist." Nevertheless, none of them has
been able to show where the results of this “looking into” were published.
Things haven't changed; ask at any university and you will find that similar
answers are still given. To these people the suggestion that German is an
invented language, and created by the Benedictine monks with formulaic
manipulation of Basque, is academic heresy.
In an effort to overcome this problem, Edo Nyland will shows the
Basque origin of a large number of German words. THE MONKS
ENJOYED DOING THEIR TASK
The monk/grammarians assembling these words did enjoy
doing their work. Their number one rule was to create words that were totally
unlike Basque. This was done by building into the new language peculiarities,
which would make the artificiality unrecognizable from Basque. In this
assignment, they succeeded admirably. As shown in the section on the Auraicept, they
themselves admitted to having great pride in new word construction and introducing
their creations to the public. They also liked their beer and wine as the
German word "Kanne" (jug, can) shows, from .ka-anne, aka-anu, akabu (sublime) anu (passing out,
bliss): sublime bliss. Consider "Kugel" (bullet): .ku-ugel, uku (awry) ugalpen (reproduction):
reproduction gone awry; they couldn't be more right because that's
what a bullet is supposed to do! Or German "Fest" (feast),
from f.-est, afa (pleasing) este (intestine): Pleasing
the intestine. The German vocabulary is full of such hidden wisecracks. In Basque very few words start with "f," none
start with "r" and none end with "m." These were
peculiarities, which the grammarians could exploit. Our English and German
dictionaries are balanced, with the first 13 letters (A-M) taking up half of
the dictionary and the last 13 (N-Z) the other half. The Basque dictionary is
quite different in that about 80% of all Basque words are found in A-M. The
grammarians made every effort to tidy up this imbalance with the result that
most European dictionaries are now balanced. THE USE OF THE
LETTER "F"
Very few words in Basque start with "f" which
was a reason for the early grammarians to make prolific use of this letter by
creating many words that reversed this. The word most often selected to
provide the "f" was afa or fa meaning
"happy" or "pleasing." Words that could remotely be
associated with happiness or pleasing, were then started with "f."
An idea about the monks' attitude toward women is seen in "Frau"
meaning Happy (under/with) discipline. The meaning of the word "Weib"
(see below) is much more acceptable to modern women. Almost without
exception, the letters following the "f" were clearly recognizable
Basque words, easily translated. In the case of "Freund," the
English equivalent "friend" sounds closer to Basque. Notice that
for many of these agglutinations the standard vowel-linking rule has been
ignored. Fabel (fable): fa-abel, afa (happy) abel (herdsman):
"Happy herdsman". Fuchtel (whipping): f.-ukat-el., faltsuki (falsely) ukatz (deny) ele (story):
"He falsely denied the story". WORDS STARTING
WITH "R"
No Basque
word starts with "r," instead this letter is always preceded by a
vowel or a vowel combined with a second "r," e.g. aran (plum), arran (cattle bell), eri (illness), erri (village), iri (city) irri (laugh, joke), ore (dough) orre (juniper tree),
ura (this), urra (gold). The
"rr" must be rolled, like the Scottish "r." Rabulist (hairsplitter):
.ra-abu-uli-ist., arra (always) aburu (opinioned) uli (fly) istilu (disturber):
"Always the opinioned fly disturber". THE USE OF
"V": A NEW LETTER
The
letter "v" does not exist in Basque. In German and Dutch the Latin
"v" was introduced to displace the original "b" as was
also done in the Romance languages. veranker (to anchor, to
moor): ber-anker, ber (repeat) ankerkeria (cruelty):
"Repeated cruelty". "W":
THE LETTER WITHOUT MEANING
The "w" does not occur in Basque. We could have done without this invention.
The invention of the "w" was another way to confuse the words
borrowed from Basque. In general, the "w" proved to be meaningless,
however, it sometimes makes the new word sound and look quite different. The
word "Welt" (world), "wereld" in Dutch, comes from Basque
eraldu meaning:
"to be reformed, to be renewed," which, no doubt, was the church
leaders' stated religious and political objective. The "w" words
were easier to sort out than the "v" words, almost as if the
grammarians who made the "v" words had more detailed knowledge of
the original language. wachsen (to grow): ak-zen, akuilu (to spur, to
grow up) izan (to be):
"To be growing up". SOME
"EME" WORDS
Eme, meaning
"female," "woman," "child" or
"peaceful," was usually abbreviated to me
and used in a number of German and Dutch words. Here follows a
small selection: melden (to report): .me-eldu-un., eme (woman) eldu (to arrive) une (place, here):
"The woman is to arrive here". A similar list can be made up with
words starting with ama or ma, meaning
"mother," "priestess" or "goddess." Here are a
few: Magd (servant girl):
ma-agud, ama (mother) agudo (diligent,
active): "Diligent mother". WORDS USED IN
GERMAN AND DUTCH, BUT NOT IN ENGLISH
In the following pairs, German comes
first, followed by Dutch: Ärger - ergernis (annoyance): erge-era-aniz, ergel (foolish) -era (behaviour) anitz (frequent):
"Frequent foolish behaviour". Begriff - begrip (idea, conception): begirap (discretion),
"Discretion". Besen - bezem (broom): besom, besomotz (short arms):
"Short arms". Futsch - foetsie (poof, gone): futz (puff of air),
"Puff of air". frok - Frack (outer garment, dress coat): fraka (trousers),
"Trousers". gesund - gezond (healthy): gizondu
(to grow up), "To grow up". grob - grof (rude): g.-.ro-ob, aga (blow) arozgo (blacksmith) obe (better than):
"Better than a blow from the blacksmith". kahl - kaal (bald): kalpar
(bald spot), "Bald spot". Kitzler - kittelaar (used to be "kiddelaar":
clitoris), ki-ide-edi-ila-ar.,
uki-ide-edi-ila-ari; ukitu (to touch) idekidura (opening) ediren (hidden) ilaje (hair) arin
(lightly/gently): "Gently touch the opening hidden by hair". kauf (1)- koop (2) (purchase): 1) kau-auf, kausitu (to find) aufa (cry of
happiness): "Happiness is finding". (2) kopuru
(quantity): "Quantity". Korb - korf (beehive, basket work): kofau (beehive),
"Beehive". Kraft - kracht (strength): .k.-.ra-ak.-.t., eka-arra-aka-ata,
ekandu (to be used to) arranditsu (boastful) akabu (superior)atarramendu (advantage):
"Used to boasting about a superior advantage" (a show-off). krachen (to crack, to burst): kraken (to crack, to
crunch): .k.-.ra-ake-en.,
aka-ara-ake-ene; akabu (the end of
life) aragikoi (lustful) akela (witch) ene
(screams of pain): "The life of the lustful witch ended in screams of
pain". Laster - laster (depravity, slander): laster (to press, push,
force): "To force". leiden - lijden (to suffer): lai-aide-en, laida (insult) aide (kinship) -en (superlative
suffix, e.g. grievously): "Grievously insulted kinship". Magen - maag (stomach): .ma-aga, ama (mother's) aga (abundance):
"Mother's abundant (food)". Messer - mes (knife): .me-ese-er, ume (child) eseri (sit down) erabaki (decision,
order): "Child, Sit down!" Mist - mest (manure): me-est, mehatxu (menace,
threat) estaldu (to cover up):
"Cover up the menace". unartig - onaardig (rude, despicable): un-arti-ig, una-arti-iguin, unagarri (annoying) artikulu (article) iguindu (despicable):
"Annoying despicable article". Untat - ondaad (crime): ondatu
(to ruin, to destroy), "To ruin, to destroy". plötzlich - plotseling (suddenly): .pi-ilo-otsa-ali-ing,
ipi-ilotz-otza-ali-ing, ipini (to throw) ilotz (cadaver) otza (wolf) alienatu (to destroy) ingira (composure):
"Throw the cadaver of a wolf to destroy his composure". (What would
his horse do?) reigen - rijgen (to thread at a folk dance): .rai-.gun, arraia (line-up) egun (today):
"Dance today". Stadt - stad (city): .stat, ostatu (inn, hotel):
"Inn". Zweifel - twijfel (doubt): tzai-aifel, tzu-ufal, tzu (several) ufaldi (sighing):
"Several are sighing. (That happens often when in doubt)". Vieh - vee (cattle): bei, vei (cow):
"Cow". Verbesserung - verbetering (improvement): bera-abe-bete-erri-ing, berarizko (special) abeltalde (herd) betekor (productive) erritartu (to become
naturalized) ingurumen (environment):
"An especially productive herd to become naturalized in our
environment". Wirt - waard (host): irte, irteera (arrangement):
"Arrangement". Wunder - wonder (surprise): ondar, ondare (inheritance):
"Inheritance". A RANDOM
SELECTION OF GERMAN WORDS
Abend (evening): abend., abendu (Advent):
"Season before Winter Solstice". Pferd from Dutch "paard" (horse): pard, pardel
(pack, load, parcel): "Pack (horse)". DESTROYING AN EGALITARIAN SOCIETY
In the early days, the magical reproductive and
child-nurturing abilities of women were even more a matter of awe than the
wonderfully productive sea and land. It was this high position of respect
accorded the women that the proponents of male dominance set out to destroy
in the hope that the same level of respect would be transferred to them. To
begin with they made up the word "man" for themselves (German:
"Mann") which came from manatu, meaning
"to decide" or "to give orders." The men went to great
lengths to make up disparaging names for the women, with the obvious intent
to corrupt the position of honour that the women had occupied since times
immemorial. The wearing of jewelry and beautiful clothes was
associated with female authority. The Basque word for "adorned" is adelu, which later became the German word "Adel" (nobility).
However, with the coming of male domination, the word adelu was attached to
haidur (malicious),
creating the derogatory girls' name adel-haidur or
"Adelheid" meaning "maliciously adorned," which was used
originally by the missionaries for the Priestess and her ladies in waiting.
The name "Adelheid" is still used as a given name for girls, only
today the original negative meaning has been forgotten. The general rule,
clearly expressed in the Old Testament, was to portray all females as
untrustworthy and in urgent need of male supervision and discipline. The
proper word for a married woman in German is "Weib" (English
"wife") from ai-be, ai (strong desire)
be'ar (necessity):
"strong desire for the necessity," which very good word the men
made unacceptable by attaching "Fish" to form "Fishweib"
in German, "viswijf" in Dutch, someone smelly. At the same time the
word "Weib" was replaced with "Frau" (f.-.rau): agglutinated
from afa (happy) and arau (discipline):
therefore meaning "happy discipline" or "happy with/under
discipline." There is no indication whether the word refers to her
disciplining the children or that she is supposed to be happy under her
husband's discipline. However, there
is no doubt that the German men accepted the meaning given in the Old
Testament. This name-change alone must have caused a great deal of misery and
no doubt, violence in the family. To this day women may not be without a
man's supervision. She is taken to the altar by her father and officially
handed over to her new owner, whose name she then takes. How long will women
put up with this degrading tradition? It is difficult to imagine what it was that made
someone coin a name like Brunhilda, from burun (insanity) hildako (death):
"deathly insane," but there is little doubt that the object was to
put down an independent thinking woman. Similarly, the making of a name like
Rhonda, ro-onda, arro-ona: arrotasun (pride) ondagarri (ruinous, destructive):
"ruinous pride" or Tamara, tama-ara: tamal (bad luck) arrabeteko (handful):
"handful of bad luck" or: Wietska, itz (talk) -ka (incessant):
"She talks incessantly." These names certainly do not indicate
respect, but instead prove that the women were being used and "put in
their place," not honored as before. As a result, Germany ended up with
an odd assortment of girls' names, which had never existed before, courtesy
male dominance run amuck. Here are some more: Albine: albinu (threaded
needle): "Seamstress". NOW SOME NAMES FOR
MEN, THE LORDS OF CREATION
As derogatory as some of the names for women were, as
heroic the names for men were. In cases where two names have the same initial
letters such as Herbert and Herman, this does not mean that they mean the
same thing; the meaning depends largely on what follows, as shown below.
First some male designations: Ehemann (Husband): ehi-man, ehiztari (hunter) manatze (commanding):
"Commanding hunter". Adolf: ado-dol-f, adoretsu (courageous) dolo (pain) ufakari (scornful of):
"Courageous and scornful of pain". And then there were some names like Hans,
from hanzkor meaning
'forgetful', or Haiko from haiko
maikoka, meaning 'making excuses', for the non-aggressive boys. MANY GERMAN FAMILY NAMES ARE ALMOST PURE BASQUE
A great deal of
linguistic effort went into replacing the early spoken language, however,
less went into changing the original family names. "von" is
supposed to indicate nobility but the translation does not support this. The
"v" is always written as "b" in Basque therefore
"von" becomes "bon," which is derived from bonbon (lavish
spending) while the abbreviation "bon" indicates "rich."
This is confirmed by some of the names like "von Baillou"
("rich, indeed miserly"), "von Grad" ("hankering for
riches") or "von Sydow" ("riches are your
misfortune"). Rich must therefore be placed (in most cases) before the
following translations e.g. rich lancer, rich and concerned, rich and
thoughtful etc. This does not apply to names such as "von Anrep" (a
military command) or "von Goertz" (cross) in which cases
"von" must have been added to the name after the original meaning
had been forgotten and "von" was thought to mean
"nobility." von Aderkas: aderkatz, aderkatze (act of
goring): "Lancer". von Aesch: ash, ashola (care,
concern): "Concerned". von Anrep: an-re-ep, anai (brother) arre (advance) ep (carefully):
"Brothers advance carefully". von Baillou: bai-lu, bai (yes, indeed) lukur (miserly):
"Indeed miserly". von Barr: barrast, barrastatu (to
distribute): "He distributed his riches". von Bartko: bart-ko, bart (last night) kokolo (foolish):
"Last night he made a fool (of himself)". von Berner: bern-er, berna (calf of the
leg) -era (action of):
"Runner?" von Borck: borrok, borrok (beligerent):
"Beligerent". von Escholtz: esholatz, asholatz (thoughtful):
"Thoughtful". von Faulhaber: fa-aul-aber, fa (happy) aul (feeble) aber (rich):
"Happy, feeble and rich". von Ferber: fa-eraber, fa (happy) eraberri (changes,
reform): "Happy with the changes". von Gaza: gaza, gaza (dull,
insipid): "Rich and dull". von Goertz: gurutz, gurutz (crucifix,
cross): "Of the Cross". von Grad: gura-ad, guratsu (wishing) adurtsu (lucky):
"Wishing to be lucky". von Hahn: ahan, ahanzkor (forgetful):
"Rich and forgetful". von Haimberger: hei-im-berga-ar, hei (shelter) imaz (place of woven
branches) berga (twigs,
coppice) arrunt (simple):
"Simple shelter made from woven branches". von Hockauf: ok-auf, okin (baker) aufa (happy):
"Happy baker". von Kaldenberg: kalda-an.-berga, kaldatu (to heat with) anitzetan (often) berga (twigs,
branches): "Often heats with branches". von Kanel: .ka-ane-el., ukan (to have) ane (measure,
supply) elikagai (food):
"He has a supply of food". von Katzler: ka-atzelar, kabu (hit) atzelari (backplayer of
jai-alai ballgame): "The back player hit the ball". von Maltzahn: maltz-an, maltz (tricky,
deceiptful) anai (brother):
"Tricky brother". von Rudloff: .ru-ud.-.lo-ob.-.b., oru-uda-alo-obe-eba: orubeketa (piece of land)
udalarre (summer
pasture) alordun (farmer) obeki (better) ebaluatu (to evaluate,
consider): "The farmer considers the lower part of the summer pasture to
be better". von Sacken: sakon, sakan (deep ravine,
gorge): "By the gorge". von Schalburg: shal-burg, shalo (frank, candid)
burgoi (arrogant):
"Frank and arrogant". von Schellwitz: shel-u'its., shelebre (funny) uitsu (tarred):
"He looked funny tarred (and feathered?)". von Schilling: tshilin, txilin (little bells
on animals): "Little bells on (his) animals". von Schlabbrenberg shal-laber-en-berg: tshal (calf) laberatu (to put in the
oven) -enetan (always) berga (twigs, dry
branches): "Always put the calf in the oven with dry branches". von Sydow: zu-doa, zu (you, your) doakabe (misfortune):
"Your misfortune". von Tottossy: toto-osi, tot (round) osin (moat):
"Moat all around". von Welarp: el-arp, ele (story) arpa (harp):
"Story sung with the harp". von Zuben: tsu-ben, tsu (abundance,
very) ben (honest,
serious): "Very serious". THE WILLERAM
This amazing
book was written around 1060 A.D. by the abbot of the Ebersberg Benedictine
monastery and had a profound influence upon the formation of German. The
"Willeram" comments on Solomon's "Song of Songs”
in the Bible. The "name" means: "I tell the eternal story of
love" and therefore this title could not have been the name of the
Benedictine abbot. The original manuscript is now in the University of
Leiden, Holland. |
==========================================
For further detail, please
refer to:
Nyland, Edo. 2001. Linguistic Archaeology: AnIntroduction. Trafford Publ., Victoria, B.C., Canada.
ISBN 1-55212-668-4. 541 p. [ see
abstract & summary]
Nyland, Edo. 2002.
Odysseus and the Sea Peoples: A
Bronze Age History of Scotland Trafford Publ., Victoria,
B.C., Canada.
307 p. [see
abstract & summary].
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