TY - JOUR AU - Witczak, Krzysztof Tomasz PY - 2020/12/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Two Germanic words for ‘herring’ JF - Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Germanica JA - GERM VL - IS - 15 SE - Articles DO - 10.18778/1427-9665.15.01 UR - https://czasopisma.uni.lodz.pl/germanica/article/view/11377 SP - 9-18 AB - <p>The paper discusses the origin of two Germanic terms for ‘Atlantic herring, <em>Clupea harengus </em>L.’. The Proto-Germanic noun <em>*siled- </em>m. ‘herring’, attested in most North Germanic languages (e.g. ON. <em>sild</em>, Far. <em>síld</em>, OSv. <em>sild</em>, Sv. <em>sill</em>, Norw. <em>sil</em>), cannot be treated as inherited. It seems to represent a Saami (or Laponian) borrowing, cf. Saa. (Northern) <em>sâlled</em>, (Lule) <em>sallēt </em>‘herring’ &lt; Proto-Saami <em>*silä-tɜ </em>‘herring’ (orig. ‘fat fish’) &lt; Ur. <em>*śilä </em>‘fat, grease, esp. fish grease’). The competing Germanic appellative <em>*hēringaz </em>(&lt; <em>*hairingaz</em>) m. ‘<em>Clupea harengus </em>L.’ is well-attested in the West Germanic languages (cf. E. <em>herring</em>, Du. <em>haring</em>, G. <em>Hering</em>), as well as in Romance (cf. It. <em>arenga</em>, Fr. <em>harenge</em>, Prov. <em>arenc</em>, Sp. <em>arenque</em>). It cannot be excluded that the Old Frisian word <em>hēreng </em>represents the original source of the European borrowing. The word in question is a Proto-Germanic innovation derived from the adjective <em>*hairaz </em>‘gray’ by means of the common suffix <em>*-ingaz</em>, cf. the two old appellatives <em>*bukkingaz </em>m. ‘hot-smoked herring’ (&lt; PG. <em>*bukkaz </em>m. ‘he-goat’) and <em>*hwītingaz </em>m. ‘whiting, the marine fish <em>Merlangius merlangus </em>L.’ (&lt; PG. <em>*hwītaz </em>adj. ‘white’)<em>.</em></p> ER -