Re: your mail
D. Sreenivasa Rao (dsr@VNET.IBM.COM)
Mon, 06 Nov 95 11:18:17 -0500
>
> > It is very interesting to know that GERMAN has lot sanskrit words,
> > esp LUFTHANSA . The underlined word is borrowed from sanskrit.
> > ^^^^^^
> > Does anyone has any clue how these words made entry in german language.
> > Kumar Chunduru
>
> The word "hansa" in "lufthansa" is not related to the "hansa" (=swan)
> in Indian languages. The sea voyagers, traders were/are known as "Hansiaten"
> in German, and all the four port towns in Germany, i.e., Hamburg, Bremen,
> Luebeck, and Rostock, are known as "Hansestaedte" (=Hansiatic towns). So,
> in "Lufthansa" also the last word was taken from the old tradition. There
> was a very informative article on "Hansiaten" in _National Geographic
> Magazine_ six months ago.
>
Is it possible that in the European version of Indo-European
languages, "hansa" took the meaning seagull (some of which are white
in color, etc), and hence the word Hansiaten? I say this because my
German teacher in grad school (a native German himself) used to point
out the word Hansa as one of the set of those that survived from
the Indian side of Indo-European.
Apologies for delayed response,
--sreenivas-- dsr@vnet.ibm.com