Names of Germany
The term German as a term for the people of the Germans, the German language and Germany has in the different languages of the world on each other similar as well as ( very ) different words.
This diversity is due in part to the long and uneven history of the Germanic and German peoples and their diverse communities. On the other hand, this came in the course of the settlement history of Europe with diverse ethnic groups into contact, which developed partly separate designations for the " German " counterpart. Finally, note that the original European-based languages were spread by colonialism throughout the world, especially for European nations and therefore are (now ) states different names common.
List
" Diutisc " as the origin
The Old High German word diutisc meaning " belonging to the people " is primarily a self designation of German peoples. Therefore, especially the German word itself and the corresponding names in neighboring Germanic languages are derived from it. This is the North Germanic languages the root tysk with hardened consonants, the West Germanic languages, the softer shape with / d / - and / s / - or / ʃ / - According to own.
By simple derivations of this root word is spreading into other languages . So the Chinese Déyìzhì德意志[ tɤ̌.î.ʈʂž̩ ] is a phonetic approximation of " German ", the short form Dé德[ tɤ̌ ] is further used in the individual names of people, country, language etc.. (独documented ) or current standardドイツtraditionally :独 逸(short) phonetically borrowed from the Dutch duits the Japanese Doitsu Likewise. In Korean, the characters独 逸be pronounced as Dogil 독일.
" Germania " as the origin
The etymology of the Latin word Germania is not entirely clear. It has been diving for about 200 BC in Roman sources as a collective designation of the north of the Roman Empire neighboring tribes. The term is essentially characterized 51 BC by Julius Caesar in his Commentarii de Bello Gallico work, in which he defined the Rhine as the boundary between Gaul and Germany. Finally, does the word " Germanic " to refer to the civilized nations of Germanic tribes.
In medieval times, relatively rare, the word is mainly used in historical or geographical sense, to the territories east of the Rhine. Only in the age of humanism, the term Germania is taken from the ancient literature to obtain the importance of Germany in New Latin. From this it arrives in the 16th century both in the English and some romance languages . Due to the large linguistic influence of Latin and English, the stem may occur German today in many languages , even outside Europe, before. Even in planned languages such as Esperanto and Interlingua he finds feeder.
" Alemanni " as the origin
The West Germanic people of the Alemanni is just in time before the emergence of the Frankish kingdom neighbor of the Gallo-Romans. This transferred the concept to the whole of the east of their settled Germanic peoples. In this way reaches the derived name of Alemanni for the Germans in the languages of the French monarchy. In the 11th and 12th century, the term in French is predominant, but mainly in Italian and English. The root word from French in the languages of the Iberian Peninsula in the 12th century and the 15th is also taken into Portuguese. Through the influence of the Iberian languages (see Reconquista ) achieved the designation include the Arabic language, as well as pan- Latin America.
" Niemc " / " nemet " as the origin
In the Slavic and other Southeastern European languages , a separate root word for exist " German ", the němьcь from pre-Slavic word, plural němьci " stranger " and usually descended němъ to the adjective " dumb " is returned ( with suffix ьcь ). The word originally referred to a foreign language, who can not communicate with the Slavs ( as listed in the Primary Chronicle ). Later, the meaning is concentrated on German -speaking. This is the most common explanation of the name of the people of the Slavs a contrast equivalent because that is derived from Slavic slovo (word). In Hungarian and Romanian the word stem is borrowed from the Slavic languages. - Another, now as good as no longer represented in the Slavic theory, on the other hand leads him forth from the Germanic tribe of the Nemeter on the Rhine.
Other origin
Others
- The English used the term dutch, derived from German, since 17-18. Century, only for the Dutch language.
- In Arabic the word is Nimsâ, derived from the Slavic root for Germany, Austria, the country meant. The word has come from the Slavic languages of the Balkans over the Ottoman language into Arabic. In the 16th and 17th century Austria was a large German-speaking neighbor of the Ottoman Empire, also the home country of the Holy Roman Emperor.
- In the Balkans, the German minorities are often called Swabia, the Germans in Transylvania Saxons call themselves. These terms are, however, not due to their origin, because the dialects are actually rather Rhine Franconian and Moselle Franconian.
- In German-speaking Switzerland German are generally often called Swabia, although the next German neighbors are Baden, which, however, in the high Middle Ages - for the most part belonged to the Duchy of Swabia - as a significant proportion of German Switzerland as well.
- In Luxembourg German are also called " prices " (Eng. Prussia ) and their language as " price Esch " because the entire German border with Luxembourg from 1815 to 1945 belonged to the Prussian state. In the name but also from other German regions are meant, for example, also Bavaria. During the German occupation of Luxembourg violent in World War II the term was an insult, similar to " Boche " with the French word. Applies today for German in the post-war period derived from the country's name, " Däitschen " as politically correct.