Monday "Moon"

WORD HISTORY:
MOON-This word goes back to Indo European "menses/menes," which meant "moon," but also "month;" undoubtedly due to use of the moon by ancient peoples as a means of telling time. Many linguists believe that the "me" part, which noted "measurement" in Indo European, is actually the root word, and this again connects with the sense of "measuring time." Lithuanian, considered by many linguists to be the closest "living" language to Indo European, has "menuo," and indeed, it means both "moon" and "month." The Indo European form gave the Old Germanic offshoot of "maenon." This in turn gave Old English "mona." The possessive form gave Old English "monandaeg," which is literally "moon's day," which has now become "MONDAY." Further, the Old Germanic word had a variant of "maenoth/manoth," which gave Old English "monath," which is now "MONTH," in modern English. These various forms are present throughout the other Germanic languages: (in order by "moon," "month," and "Monday") German has "Mond-Monat-Montag" (all German nouns are capitalized); Dutch has "maan," "maand," "Maandag;" Swedish has "måne," "månad," "måndag;" Danish and Norwegian have "måne," "måned," "mandag." The verb form of "moon" seems to have developed in the 1600s, and it originally meant "to expose to moonlight." In the 1670s came "moonstruck," which had the meaning of "being lost to fantasy land." During the late 1960s came the modern notion of "showing one's behind (like the moon)."

The German Question, Part Fourteen

Edited and updated a little on July 23, 2015. 

Going back about 1500 years, Germanic elements (later, in this case, called Germans) had settled in part of the area of the southern Alps. The area became heavily German in terms of population (likely absorbing many Celtic and Latin elements there), and the cities and towns came to be known by their German names in those times. Probably unknown to most Americans, this area, known as the South Tirol (Italian: Alto Adige), later became quite contested between the Germans (usually represented by the Austrians) and the Italians, who claimed the territory based upon geography, and not by majority ethnic background. The area in question, now part of Italy, has the cities of Bolzano (Bozen, in German), Merano (Meran, in German) and Bressanone (Brixen, in German). The people who later came to be known as "Italians," also had a minority in the region, but with some areas actually having an Italian majority. More on this later.

So, now in the last several parts, I have laid out the areas of Europe where people who were known as "Germans" came to live, albeit at times either with many non-Germans nearby, or mixed in with non-Germans. We are now ready to move on to the rise of two dominant German states, one in the south, and one in the north. The struggle between these two states for the rule of Germany will bring us to more modern times, and to historical events and names undoubtedly more recognizable to many readers.

WORD HISTORY:
Sour-This seems to go back to the Indo European root "suro," which had to do with "cheese." Of course, cheese can have a sour taste (after all it's soured milk). This gave its Old Germanic offspring "suraz," which just meant "sour." This then gave Old English "sur," which then became "sour." The other Germanic languages have: German "sauer," Low German "suur," Dutch "zuur," West Frisian "soer" (apparently archaic),  Swedish, Danish and Norwegian "sur," and Icelandic "súr," all of these forms meaning "sour." Latin-based French has the adjective "sur" (acidic, sour) absorbed from Germanic Frankish "sur."

The German Question, Part Thirteen

From the 1200s until the 1600s, the Germans developed a dominant role in trade in much of northern Europe with the formation of the Hanseatic League (German, "Hanse"). The Hanse not only was a trade organization of north German communities, but it also had a military function, since trade routes and trade facilities needed protection. The Hanse's extensive reach also took more Germans (including people now called "Dutch," but in the early times of the Hanse they were still called "Germans") into settlements in northeastern Europe.

Much further south, Germans established settlements in what is modern Slovenia, and eventually that area came firmly under German rule by way of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

Also, during the mid 1300s, Europe suffered from the infamous "Black Death," which is thought by many, but not all, researchers to have been bubonic plague. The widespread German lands suffered from this outbreak, just as did other parts of Europe. Since record keeping in those times was not extensive, and some records undoubtedly did not survive into modern times, there really isn't an accurate count for the death toll from the Black Death, but it "seems" that in the overall German territories at least 20-25% of the population died.*

* In some other parts of Europe the death toll estimates run much higher, some exceeding 50%!!!

WORD HISTORY:
Smock-The history of this word is not firm, but it seems to go back to Indo European "smeugh," which had the notion "slip on, slip into," and then the Old Germanic offshoot "smukkaz." This then gave Old English/Anglo-Saxon "smoc," which was a woman's garment (later the spelling was "smok" and "smock"). Old English had two related words that seem to also be related to "smock." These were "smugan," which had the notion of "creeping into" (slipping into) and "smygel," which had the notion of "burrowing" (forcefully slipping into). The idea here is that a smock has a hole in the top and a person then draws it over the head or sort of burrows into it. German, a close relative of English, has "schmiegen," which means "to nestle into," so much the same meaning. From what I could find, "smock" didn't begin to be applied to part of an artist's outfit until the 20th Century. Likewise for part of a military outfit, often with camouflage design. The use of "smock" for a garment is purely English, although the other Germanic languages have related forms that are not used in that sense.

The German Question, Part Twelve

Early Jewish Settlements in German Lands

From what I know, there were Jewish settlers in German lands from the 300s A.D., and probably before that time. Later, with the splintering of centralized power within the German-led Holy Roman Empire, the individual “states” had laws governing Jewish immigration, with some states prohibiting Jews from settling within their territory, while others sought special taxes from Jewish settlers, or prohibited Jews from many occupations, restricting them to being moneylenders and/or pawnbrokers. The Christian Church periodically wanted anti-Jewish laws passed and strictly enforced, including the wearing of badges to distinguish Jews from Christians. The Church-inspired anti-Jewish feelings spread throughout the general population, but even with all of this, and the fact that the German emperors chose to refer to old Roman law,* eventually, the German city of Mainz became a major center of Jewish life in Europe, with other German cities like Cologne (Köln, in German), Vienna (Wien, in German), Worms and Speyer, not far behind. Emperor Friedrich II, a fairly enlightened leader for those times, gave protections to German Jews during the 1200s, declaring them to be a separate and distinct group of people, and giving Jews certain rights, like the right to judge other Jews by Jewish law. Friedrich also encouraged other Jews to come to German areas and be involved in the money lending business, as well as become tax collectors.**

The beginning of the Crusades brought terrible measures against German Jews, as Christians turned on the nearest non-Christian minority. Thousands of Jews were murdered. When calamities struck, like the invasion of the Mongols and the spread of the Black Death (plague), Jews were accused of being the cause, regardless of the fact that Jews suffered from these calamities, too.*** Many Jews fled to Poland, where laws against Jews were not yet as developed, nor was public feeling against Jews as heightened.**** Other Jews were expelled from the major cities to small towns or rural areas within the German lands, although they were eventually “invited” back for the taxes they could pay. The tide of Jewish persecution in German lands ebbed and flowed periodically. More on this important and tragic subject later on.

* The Roman emperor, Titus, claimed that he “owned” the Jews within the Roman Empire as his own personal property. As such, he gave protection to Jews.

** Let's be honest, while probably not Friedrich's intention, being involved in money lending and tax collecting can create lots of hatred; after all, people don't like paying taxes, and there's a tendency for us to resent people to whom we owe money, even if we legally signed on the dotted line of our own free will.

***This shows how people can fall for such nonsense. The failure to engage our minds can be a VERY dangerous thing.

**** Poland was to become a major center of Jewish population in Europe.

WORD HISTORY:
(Sauer)kraut-This famous food, seen by most people as THE typical German dish, was borrowed into English from German, seemingly in the early 15th Century. It literally means "sour cabbage," although the German word "Kraut" actually means "herb, or the green tops of non 'woody' plants," but in southern German dialect, it means "cabbage," and indeed, it has entered the entire German vocabulary with at least that secondary meaning and also as a shortened form of "sauerkraut." Interestingly, the history of the word "kraut" is a bit sketchy, and it "seems" to have come into use among the Germanic dialects of northwestern Europe during the 700s A.D. (these dialects became modern German, Low German, Dutch, and Frisian). It's use in other Germanic dialects/languages is due to borrowing. It doesn't seem to have a form in Old English (Anglo-Saxon), whose ancestral lands were in that same area of northwestern Europe until about 450 to 500 A.D. So if correct, this would give some validity to the idea that the word was either not in use at that time, or at least not in enough widespread usage to travel to Britain with the Anglo-Saxons. "Kraut" goes back to Old High German "krut," the form still in use in Alsatian German dialect (Elsässisch), which came from Old Germanic "krutha/kruda" (plant, herb). I cannot find a further connection to some Indo European base, although that doesn't mean there isn't one (some have connected it to an Old Greek word and then to an Indo European base, but the proof of such is not overwhelming). As to why the nickname "Krauts" came into use for "Germans," it "may" simply be because the dish has been so connected to Germans, although I've read somewhere (I now can't recall where), that German commercial and naval vessels carried sauerkraut, which has a good vitamin C content, to help their crews to ward off scurvy, and that this brought about the nickname. I'll deal with the "sauer" part of the word in another edition, but of course it comes from the same source as English "sour."

Oil Debate "Spills" Over

For quite some time, in response to the nation's energy needs, many voices, mainly in the Republican Party, have shouted, "Drill baby drill!" President Obama recently went along with plans for more offshore oil drilling. Now we have witnessed what is fast becoming the biggest oil catastrophe in history. The oil spill in the Gulf Of Mexico not only threatens wildlife there, but it threatens the jobs of many Americans employed in the fishing and seafood business so dependent upon the Gulf's resources. Further, beach areas are threatened. Supporters of more drilling say, "This hasn't happened since 1969," but I say, "It only takes once!"

We have to be honest with ourselves. This country has let the energy situation slip away from it over the decades. Democrats, and certainly Republicans, have shied away from anything that might inconvenience us for a time. All of this has led to an ever increasing dependence by America on foreign oil supplies. Certainly a case can be made that without our money flowing out of this country and into other countries' bank accounts, a number of them downright hostile to America, the terrorist threat of recent years would not be as great.

We and the developed world are dependent on energy to fuel our economies. We are caught in a very bad situation due to our failure to address this problem decades ago. I'm not against trying to find new sources of oil in the short term, but we've got to kick the habit, or we will continue to finance the very people who hate us most. We almost certainly will help finance the development of nuclear weapons by our opponents, namely Iran. Now, you might say that we don't buy oil from Iran, but that's irrelevant, since we consume oil from other suppliers, forcing some oil-hungry countries to seek oil from Iran. You can't get around this.

As for "drill baby drill," it's easy for some to say such things, since they don't live anywhere near areas of potential oil disasters. Having been born and raised in a coal mining area, it's easy to urge more coal use, and the jobs that can create, but ask how many people want to live next to facilities that burn coal. (Pardon while I cough) Like with crime, we all want the criminals locked up, but we don't want prisons near us.

WORD HISTORY:
Oil-This goes back to Greek "elaion," which meant "olive tree," this coming from Greek "elaiva," but where this came from is uncertain, although it is thought by many to come from an eastern Mediterranean language. In ancient times, olive oil was the most common form of oil. Latin picked up the word from Greek as "oleum," and Old French, a Latin-based language, continued with "oile." The "French" that developed in England after the Norman Conquest, called Anglo-French, had "olie," and this gave English "oile/oyle/ile." English "supposedly got the word in the 1100s, but I also found sources that noted Anglo-Saxon (Old English) having "aele/ele." This would suggest that we got the word earlier than the 1100s, as the other Germanic languages also use forms of the word, all apparently borrowed from the Latin form (again, with Latin having gotten the word from Greek). German has "Öl," Dutch has "olie," and Swedish has "olja," for examples in other Germanic languages. Of course, over time, the word came to mean more than just oilve oil, and you need only check out the price of gasoline at your neighborhood station to know what I mean.

The German Question, Part Eleven

The Germans, along with Swedes and Danes, also advanced into the eastern Baltic areas for trade and to Christianize the various peoples there, who were to become the modern Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians.* Gradually Germans began to settle in these areas, especially due to trade. In one area the Germans became a significant majority of the population, although I’m sure they absorbed the local, non-German population over time. This was an area centered around a German-built castle called “Memel,” and the region did indeed become part of Germany.** Further east and northeast, in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, German communities developed, but in these areas, the Germans never became anything like a majority of the population, although they tended to have high social status due to commercial interests and even military positions, essentially ruling these areas and developing large estates there. Later, when these “Baltic States” became part of the Tsarist Russian Empire, a number of these Baltic Germans, as they came to be called, joined in the Russian government or military.

Further to the south in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, Germans were invited by Bohemian kings to settle in places largely devoid of population due to the Mongol invasion. These Germans tended to settle in the northern, western and southern fringes of Bohemia, where in many places, areas became pretty much exclusively German, but many areas became very mixed, being shared between Czechs and Germans. This general area later came to be known, even in English, as the Sudetenland; so called because of the Sudeten Mountains there. Some Germans also migrated into interior Bohemia, areas that were predominantly Czech, where they established German communities, or where they were eventually assimilated into the majority Czech population.

Transylvania had been conquered by the Hungarians, but the Hungarian king invited Germans to settle in parts of the territory to help defend it against intruders. Most of these Germans were Saxons, and they came to be called “Transylvanian Saxons,” although over time, other non-Saxon Germans came to the region. The Germans were also seemingly welcomed by the Hungarian king because of their expertise in business and mining, and they held an elevated status in Transylvania, even later, when much of the region became part of Rumania.**** (A “Word History” is below the notes)

*The Estonians are closely related to the Finns, both linguistically and ethnically, and they speak a Uralic language. The Lithuanians and Latvians are closely related, and speak Indo European languages; that is, they speak  languages related to English, but further down the family tree, as these are classified as Baltic languages, or also called Balto-Slavic by some.

** Memel was located on what later became the German-Lithuanian border.

*** Parts of the Sudeten Mountains are actually in Poland and Germany. The word is pronounced as if "sue-DAY-ten."

**** The world has been full of political “hot spots” over the centuries, including in our present time, and Transylvania has been one of those areas. The territory’s “rightful ownership” has been at the center of a bitter dispute between the Hungarians and the Rumanians. The question centers around the very origins of the modern Rumanians, but that’s another subject. The overall dispute has been so bitter, that during World War Two, Hungary and Rumania, both allied to Hitler’s Germany, sent substantial military forces to fight against the Soviet Union, but the Germans had to keep these forces separated from one another, lest they attack each other rather than the Soviets. Further, the Germans accused both nations of keeping too many troops on the Hungarian-Rumanian border opposing each other, rather than sending the units to Russia.

WORD HISTORY:
Holt-While this is now an antiquated word in English, it is part of a number of place names, especially in England, and also is a family name, so I included it. It goes back to Indo European "khald," seemingly with a connection to "wood/timber/trees," from the base "kel," which had the notion of "cut" (you "cut" down trees for wood/lumber). The Old Germanic offshoot was "khulto," (with the "h" sound being more prominent) which in turn gave Old English "holt," which meant "woods, cluster of trees, grove." The spelling has remained consistent in English through the centuries. Forms in the other Germanic languages are: Dutch and West Frisian "hout" (where the "L" sound died out, meaning 'wood, timber'), German Holz (wood, timber), Low German "holt" (wood, timber), Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic "holt" (hilltop grove) and Swedish "holt/hult" (from what I understand, now only dialect, with the spelling variations, for "grove, woods"). Interestingly, the name "Holland" likely derives from "holt" and "land," thus meaning a "woodland."