Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/107

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ail (from *palêk), ‘rock,’ OSlov. planina, ‘mountain,’ Sans. parvata, ‘rock, mountain,’ may be primit. allied. Connected also with OInd. púr, ‘fastness, citadel,’ to which Gr. πόλι-ς has been referred? or with Sans. pâšâṇa (for *palsâna), ‘stone’?.

Fenchel, m. (Suab. and Alem. Fenkel), from the equiv. MidHG. vënchel, vënichel, OHG. fënahhal, fënihhal, m., ‘fennel’; comp. AS. finul, E. fennel; formed from Lat. (fœniculum, feniculum, feniclum), fenuclum; from the same source the Romance cognates Fr. fenouil, Ital. finocchio, ‘fennel,’ are derived.

Fenster, n., ‘window,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vęnster, OHG. vęnstar, n.; comp. Du. venster, n. Based, with a curious change of gender, on Lat. fenestra, from which, however, the fęnstar of the Mid Europ. Teutons could only be produced by shifting the accent back according to the Teut. custom (comp. Abt) and by syncopating the second e. This indicates that the word was borrowed very early, in the beginning of the OHG. period. Yet the idea was well known to the older periods, as is testified by the terms naturally applied to the existing object — Goth. augadaurô, ‘eye-gate,’ AS. êgþŷrel, ‘eye-hole,’ OIc. vindauga (whence MidE. windôge, E. window). By the introduction of the Southern term (comp. also OIr. senister, W. ffenester) the idea was probably reconstructed. This word was borrowed at the same period as other words — Ziegel, Mauer — relating to the building of houses.

Ferge, m., ‘ferryman,’ from MidHG. vęrge, vęrje, vęre, OHG. fęrjo, fęro (nom. sing. fęrjo, gen. and dat. fęrin, accus. fęrjun), m., ‘mariner, ferryman.’ The j is changed into g after r as in Scherge, Latwerge. Goth. *farja, m., ‘mariner,’ is wanting. Most closely allied to Fähre; also akin to Goth. farjan, ‘to navigate,’ see root far under fahren.

Ferien, see Feier.

Ferkel, n., ‘sucking-pig,’ from MidHG. vęrker, verchel, vęrhelîn, OHG. farhelî(n); dimin. of MidHG. varch, n., ‘pig, sucking-pig,’ OHG. farah, farh, n.; AS. fearh, m., E. farrow; Du. varken, n., ‘pig’; Goth. *farha- is wanting. In any case it is a pre-Teut. word, since the allied Aryan languages have words corresponding to it both in sound and meaning; *farhaz from pre-Teut. porkos, corresponds to Lat. porcus (Gr. πόρκος), Lith. pàrszas, OSlov. prasę, n.,

OIr. orc. Like Eber and Schwein, this word too, unknown to Indian, is essentially West Aryan, while Kuh is a common Aryan word.

fern, adv., ‘far, distantly, remotely,’ from MidHG. vërrene, vërren, vërne, OHG. vërrana, vërranân, adv., ‘from afar’; the adv. in answer to the question ‘where’? is vërre in MidHG. and vërro in OHG. The adject. form in MidHG. is vërre, in OHG. vër, which are probably derived from the old adv. The remaining Teut. branches have no old orig. adj.; as an adv., however, we meet with Goth. faírra, which is also a prep., ‘distant, away from,’ OIc. fjarre, AS. feor, E. far, OSax. fërr. Besides these words relating to distance in space, OTeut. has also allied terms for distance in time; Goth. fairneis, ‘old, in the preceding year,’ OSax. firn, ‘preceding, passed away (of years),’ OHG. firni, MidHG. virne, ‘old’ (see under Firnewein); akin also to OIc. forn, ‘old,’ MidHG. vorn, ‘earlier, formerly,’ with a differently graded vowel. To the Teut. stem fer-, for- from pre-Teut. per, pṛ, are allied Gr. πέρᾶ, ‘further,’ πέρᾶν, ‘on the other side,’ Armen. heri, ‘distant,’ Sans. pára-s, ‘more, remote,’ paramás, ‘remotest, highest,’ parás, adv., ‘far of, in the distance.’ The cognates of Aryan per- have too great and involved a ramification to be fully explained here. See firn.

Ferse, f., ‘heel, track, footsteps,’ from the equiv. MidHG. vërsen, OHG. fërsana, f.; corresponds to Goth. fairzna (for *fairsna), f., AS. fyrsn, f. (pointing to Goth. *faírsni-); E. obsolete, the term ‘heel’ (AS. hêla) being used, in Scand. hœ̂ll; Du. verzen, OSax. fërsna. Common, like Fuß, and numerous other terms relating to the body (Herz, Niere, Ohr, Nase, &c.), to Teut. and the allied languages, and hence derived from the OAryan vocabulary; comp. fersnó-, -ni-, from pre-Teut. pē̆rs-nâ, -ni-, with Sans. pâršṇi-s, f. (like AS. fyrsn in the formation of its stem), Zend pâšna, m., Gr. πτέρνα, f., ‘heel, ham,’ Lat. perna, ‘leg (of mutton, &c.), ham,’ pernix, ‘quick, speedy’ (for *persna, *persnix).

fertig, adj., ‘ready, complete, dexterous,’ from MidHG. vęrtec, vęrtic (from vart, ‘journey’), adj., ‘able to walk, walking, in motion, ready, fit,’ OHG. fartîg; Du. vaardig, ‘ready.’ The adj., like bereit and rüstig, probably meant orig. ‘equipped for a military expedition.’