arvistro
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I have seen this appeared many times in forums, also in wikipedia.
For example here:
As for the Baltic languages, all their prehistoric Germanic loanwords are either mediated through Slavic or are borrowed from Old Norse or Proto-Norse; i.e., borrowed during a period well after Slavic prehistory (which ended c. 600 CE).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Slavic_borrowings
So I decided to dig it up. I found this.
Frederick Kurtland "The Origins of the Goths", page 4, final point:
A final point to be noted is that Baltic loanwords from Gothic were transmitted through Slavic (cf. Stender-Petersen 1927: 134 and Green 1998: 172-174), which suggests that the Balts never had direct contact with the Goths but were separated from them by the Slavs.
This sentence suggests that Kurtland made his point based on page 134 of Stender-Petersen work of 1927, and pages 172-174 of Green work of 1998.
Page 134 of Stender-Petersen "Slavisch-germanische Lehnwortkunde" I could not find online.
Pages 171-174 of Green "Language and History in the early Germanic world" are not that categorical and states the following quotes:
1. "Another difficulty concerns the precise Germanic language from which Baltic languages may have drawn their loanwords"
He mentions Prussian Sarwis vs Gothic Sarwa. Lithuanian muita (Latvian muita) vs Gothic mota and speculates that it is unclear whether those words came from Gothic, other Germanic or mediated via Slavic.
2. "Related to all these difficulties is the question whether a Gothic loanword entered Baltic directly or via Slavonic"
Here he discusses following examples:
Gothic "Hlaifs" vs Lithuanian "kliepas" (loaf of bread, my own example Latvian "Klaips", my own comment Russian is "Hleb"? Does Hlaifs-> Hleb -> Klaips make sense?)
Gothic "Hilms" vs Prussian "Ilmis" (helmet, Slavic Shlem?)
Gothic "Katils" vs Prussian "Catils" (boiler, my own example Latvian "Katls", my own comment Russian is Katel. Does Katils -> Katel -> Katls make sense?)
Gothic "Stikls" vs Prussian "Sticlo" (glass?, here Russian "Steklo" and Latvian "Stikls")
Of the above examples he states this:
3. "These cultural loans into Baltic languages could therefore have been effected directly by the Goths or through the Slavs as intermediaries"
Further he discusses Gothic loans in Slavic languages:
4. "It is clear that Gothic loanwords into Slavonic are much more frequent than in Baltic and cover a more varied range"
- my comment - I agree author.
In general my view here is this:
The above mentioned examples can't be mediated via Slavs (pls see below). However on one item we agree with the author. There are many different ways how words could have arrived into Baltic languages from Germanics (Goths, Norse, Livonian Order State).
Let's take examples from Green's work based on which Kurtland made categorical point:
Gothic has "hlaifs" -> hleb? chleb? -> Latvian has "klaips"
Gothic has "hilmis" -> shlem? helm? -> Prussian has "ilmis"
Gothic has "katils" -> kotel? -> Prussian "katils", Latvian "katls"
Gothic has "stikls" -> steklo? szklo? -> Prussian "stiklo", Latvian "stikls"
Conclusion
1) I believe further study in the subject is necessary. To present a single Gothic word that was mediated into Baltic from Slavic, one should show the relevant initial word, the word's form in relevant Slavic stage and relevant Baltic borrowing with relevant sound changes after borrowing when applicable.
2) Same holds true for Gothic words that got directly into Baltic languages.
3) The bolded statements of All Gothic loanwords in Baltic languages mediated through Slavs is simply wrong. Definately not all. Maybe not even most.
But if you can point me to a good study that shows word forms at language states and how they entered Baltic languages (Gothic via Slavic) or (all prehistoric Germanic via proto-Norse, Norse or Slavs), I will be happy to learn.
(I have a theory for which proto-Norse/Norse origin for all pre-historic German borrowings would be nice cherry on top )
For example here:
As for the Baltic languages, all their prehistoric Germanic loanwords are either mediated through Slavic or are borrowed from Old Norse or Proto-Norse; i.e., borrowed during a period well after Slavic prehistory (which ended c. 600 CE).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Slavic_borrowings
So I decided to dig it up. I found this.
Frederick Kurtland "The Origins of the Goths", page 4, final point:
A final point to be noted is that Baltic loanwords from Gothic were transmitted through Slavic (cf. Stender-Petersen 1927: 134 and Green 1998: 172-174), which suggests that the Balts never had direct contact with the Goths but were separated from them by the Slavs.
This sentence suggests that Kurtland made his point based on page 134 of Stender-Petersen work of 1927, and pages 172-174 of Green work of 1998.
Page 134 of Stender-Petersen "Slavisch-germanische Lehnwortkunde" I could not find online.
Pages 171-174 of Green "Language and History in the early Germanic world" are not that categorical and states the following quotes:
1. "Another difficulty concerns the precise Germanic language from which Baltic languages may have drawn their loanwords"
He mentions Prussian Sarwis vs Gothic Sarwa. Lithuanian muita (Latvian muita) vs Gothic mota and speculates that it is unclear whether those words came from Gothic, other Germanic or mediated via Slavic.
2. "Related to all these difficulties is the question whether a Gothic loanword entered Baltic directly or via Slavonic"
Here he discusses following examples:
Gothic "Hlaifs" vs Lithuanian "kliepas" (loaf of bread, my own example Latvian "Klaips", my own comment Russian is "Hleb"? Does Hlaifs-> Hleb -> Klaips make sense?)
Gothic "Hilms" vs Prussian "Ilmis" (helmet, Slavic Shlem?)
Gothic "Katils" vs Prussian "Catils" (boiler, my own example Latvian "Katls", my own comment Russian is Katel. Does Katils -> Katel -> Katls make sense?)
Gothic "Stikls" vs Prussian "Sticlo" (glass?, here Russian "Steklo" and Latvian "Stikls")
Of the above examples he states this:
3. "These cultural loans into Baltic languages could therefore have been effected directly by the Goths or through the Slavs as intermediaries"
Further he discusses Gothic loans in Slavic languages:
4. "It is clear that Gothic loanwords into Slavonic are much more frequent than in Baltic and cover a more varied range"
- my comment - I agree author.
In general my view here is this:
The above mentioned examples can't be mediated via Slavs (pls see below). However on one item we agree with the author. There are many different ways how words could have arrived into Baltic languages from Germanics (Goths, Norse, Livonian Order State).
Let's take examples from Green's work based on which Kurtland made categorical point:
Gothic has "hlaifs" -> hleb? chleb? -> Latvian has "klaips"
Gothic has "hilmis" -> shlem? helm? -> Prussian has "ilmis"
Gothic has "katils" -> kotel? -> Prussian "katils", Latvian "katls"
Gothic has "stikls" -> steklo? szklo? -> Prussian "stiklo", Latvian "stikls"
Conclusion
1) I believe further study in the subject is necessary. To present a single Gothic word that was mediated into Baltic from Slavic, one should show the relevant initial word, the word's form in relevant Slavic stage and relevant Baltic borrowing with relevant sound changes after borrowing when applicable.
2) Same holds true for Gothic words that got directly into Baltic languages.
3) The bolded statements of All Gothic loanwords in Baltic languages mediated through Slavs is simply wrong. Definately not all. Maybe not even most.
But if you can point me to a good study that shows word forms at language states and how they entered Baltic languages (Gothic via Slavic) or (all prehistoric Germanic via proto-Norse, Norse or Slavs), I will be happy to learn.
(I have a theory for which proto-Norse/Norse origin for all pre-historic German borrowings would be nice cherry on top )