German Language - how does "deutschland" translate into "germany?"
Expert: Kurt Bamert - 10/4/2007
Question
italy - italia
france - france
hungary - hungary
spain - espana
each country's english translation is very close to its foreign language equivalent, so how does one explain germany = deutschland?
the two words aren't remotely related.
Answer Here is an explanation of the term "Deutsch"
Der Begriff „Deutsch“
Hauptartikel: Deutsch (Etymologie)
Der Begriff „deutsch“ geht auf das Althochdeutsche diutisc zurück, das sich ebenso wie das westfränkische Adjektiv theodisk, das aus dem 8. Jahrhundert in der mittellateinischen Form theodiscus belegt ist, aus der althochdeutschen Wurzel diot für Volk oder Stamm herleitet. Das Adjektiv diutisc oder theodisk bedeutete also ursprünglich soviel wie zum Volk gehörig oder die Sprache des Volkes sprechend und wurde seit spätkarolingischer Zeit zur Bezeichnung der nicht-romanischsprechenden Bevölkerung des Frankenreichs aber auch der Angelsachsen benutzt. Es entstand in Abgrenzung zu walhisk, der Bezeichnung für die Romanen, aus der das Wort Welsche entstanden ist.
Erst seit dem 10. Jahrhundert bürgerte sich die Anwendung des Wortes diutisc auf die Bewohner des ostfränkischen Reichs ein, aus dem Deutschland hervorging. http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutsche
The English term German as used today translates German deutsch. It is derived from Latin Germanus and has been used since the 16th century synonymously with "Teuton", after teutonicus used in Latin since the 9th century to refer to the German language, from the name of the Teutones. Before the 16th century, the terms used in English were Almain, from the name of the Alemanni, or Dutch, an imitation of both Dutch "diets" (meaning "Dutch") and the German cognate "deutsch" (meaning: "German"). The diffuse nature of the term mirrors the heterogeneous nature of the Holy Roman Empire, from the 16th century also known as "Holy Roman Empire of the German nation". The linguistic affiliation of the English language itself was hotly debated at the time, and English academia was split into "Germanophiles" who preferred to include English as one of the "Germanic" or "Teutonic" languages, and "Scandophiles" who preferred to classify English as "Scandinavian" (now known as North Germanic)[20]. With the rise of the German Empire as a threat to British interests in Hamburg, the "Germanophile" position came out of fashion and British romanticism turned to Scandinavia (see Viking revival). "German" from this period refers to the German Empire, already to the exclusion of Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Usage of Dutch was narrowed to refer to the Netherlands exclusively during the early 16th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germans
