Old European hydronymy

The old European Hydronymie is a network names of water in Central and Western Europe, according to the German linguist Hans Krahe come from an early Indo-European, but vorgermanischen and pre-Celtic language.

This term " alteuropäisch " is not to be confused with the old Europe - term by authors such as Marija Gimbutas, refers to pre-Indo languages ​​of Southeast Europe.

Dissemination

The old European waters names come to Central Europe, the Baltic States, southern Scandinavia, the British Isles, France, the Iberian peninsula and Italy.

Structure of the name

The old European waters names consist of a root, one or ( rarely) two Ableitungssuffixen and an ending.

The most common roots are * al, * alb-, * drav, * kar -, sal * and * var. As Ableitungssuffixe come * l * m * n-, * -R * -S-, * -st-, * -K * w * and y before. The ending is mostly north of the Alps * -a, in the Mediterranean countries besides often * -os.

Examples

  • * Alba: Elbe
  • * Alma: Alme in Westphalia
  • * Isara: Isar, Iser and Isère
  • * Sala: Saale and Franconian Saale

Origin hypotheses

Krahe suspected that the name of an " old European " or " westindogermanischen " derived language that is based on the Celtic, Italic, Germanic and Baltic languages ​​and the extinct Illyrian language.

The German linguist Wolfgang P. Schmid suspected that Krahe " Alteuropäisch " can be equated with the Indo-European parent language, which had consequently been spoken in Central Europe. This is justified by the fact that the relevant languages ​​had no significant common innovations, the " Alteuropäische " so must be the Urindogermanische. This view is not accepted by most relevant linguists.

The German linguist Theo Vennemann believed that the waters names were not Indo-European, but came from languages ​​which are related to the Basque language ( Vaskonische hypothesis). However, this hypothesis is widely doubted.

To date, no consensus on the age and origin of the name exists; it is even doubtful that they ever come from a single family of languages ​​, and the similarities are not due to chance. The basic problem is that the original meaning of the name are unknown, and therefore the meaning of the word equations side missing.

References

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