
A Wanderwort (plural Wanderwörter, German language for "wandering word", ) is a word that was spread among numerous languages and cultures, usually in connection with trade, so that it becomes impossible to establish its original etymology, or even its original language. The separation of wanderwörter from loanwords is not unambiguously possible, and they may be considered a special class of loanwords. Typical examples of wanderwörter are ''sugar'', ''ginger'', ''cumin'' and ''tea'', some of which can be traced back to Bronze Age Mediterranean trade. Some ancient loanwords are connected with the spread of writing systems, an example would be Sumerian ''musar'', Akkadian ''musarum'' 'document, seal', apparently loaned to Indo-Iranian ''*mudra'' `seal' (Middle Iranian ''muhr'', Sanskrit ''mudrā''). Some even older, late neolithic, wanderwörter have been suggested, e.g. Sumerian ''gu-'', PIE ''gwou-'' 'cattle', or Sumerian ''balag'', Akkadian ''pilaku-'', PIE ''pelek'u-'' 'axe'. Linguistics German loanwords
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
Words begining with Wanderwort:
Wanderwort
Wanderwort
A Wanderwort (plural Wanderwörter, German language for "wandering word", ) is a word that was spread among numerous languages and cultures, usually in connection with trade, so that it becomes impossible to establish its original etymology, or even its original language. The separation of wanderwörter from loanwords is not unambiguously possible, and they may be considered a special class of loanwords. Typical examples of wanderwörter are ''sugar'', ''ginger'', ''cumin'' and ''tea'', some of which can be traced back to Bronze Age Mediterranean trade. Some ancient loanwords are connected with the spread of writing systems, an example would be Sumerian ''musar'', Akkadian ''musarum'' 'document, seal', apparently loaned to Indo-Iranian ''*mudra'' `seal' (Middle Iranian ''muhr'', Sanskrit ''mudrā''). Some even older, late neolithic, wanderwörter have been suggested, e.g. Sumerian ''gu-'', PIE ''gwou-'' 'cattle', or Sumerian ''balag'', Akkadian ''pilaku-'', PIE ''pelek'u-'' 'axe'. Linguistics German loanwords
See other meanings of words starting from letter:
W
WA | WB | WC | WD | WE | WF | WG | WH | WI | WJ | WK | WL | WM | WN | WO | WP | WR | WS | WT | WU | WX | WY | WZ |Words begining with Wanderwort:
Wanderwort
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