An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Zunge

by Friedrich Kluge

Zunge, feminine, ‘tongue, language,’ from Middle High German zunge, feminine, ‘tongue, tongue-shaped piece, language,’ Old High German zunga, feminine, ‘tongue, domain of a language.’ Compare Old Saxon tunga, Low German tunge, Dutch tonge, Old Frisian tunge, Anglo-Saxon tunge, English tongue, Old Icelandic and Swedish tunga, Danish tunge, Gothic tuggô. In non-Teutonic occurs the cognate Latin lingua, which is usually supposed to come from *dingua (like lacrima for dacrima, see Zähre). Teutonic tungôn, with Zange, is scarcely allied to the Sanscrit root danç, ‘to bite, be pointed’ (Zunge should be literally ‘that which licks’); the relation to Sanscrit juhû, jihvâ, ‘tongue,’ is uncertain.