Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language.djvu/176

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Hummer, m., ‘lobster,’ ModHG. only, from the equiv. LG. (Dan. and Swed.) hummer; the final source is OIc. humarr, m., ‘lobster’; comp. Gr. κάμαρος, κάμμαρος, ‘a kind of crab,’ although the occurrence of the same names of fishes in several Aryan languages is usually very rare. In E. a different word is used — AS. loppestre, f., E. lobster.

Humpe, f., Humpen, m., ‘drinking-cup, bumper, bowl,’ ModHG. only (from the 17th cent.); it seems, however, to be primitive, since correspondences are found in the Aryan languages, Sans. kumbha, m., ‘pot, urn,’ Zend χumba (the initial h of the ModHG. word probably originated like the h in haben, root khabh; yet comp. also Gr. κύμβος, m., ‘vessel, cup’). However remarkable it may seem that a primit. word like Humpen should have been unrecorded in the entire Teut. group until the 17th cent., yet similar examples of such a phenomenon may be adduced; comp. Schwire, ‘stake,’ in ModHG. dial. only, which, like AS. swër, ‘pillar,’ corresponds to Sans. sváru-s, ‘sacrificial stake.’ In this case, however, the supposition that the word has been borrowed is more probable, because Teut. has for the most part adopted foreign terms for drinking vessels (comp. Krug, Krause, Kruke, Kelch); the assumption, on account of Zend χumba, that the word was borrowed at an early period from a Pers. dial. is alluring (as in the case of Pfad).

humpeln, humpen, vb., ‘to hobble’; ModHG. only, from LG.?. Perhaps allied to hinken.

Hund, m., ‘dog, hound,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hunt(d), OHG. hunt(t), m.; a common Teut. word hunda-, ‘dog’; comp. Goth. hunds, OIc. hundr, AS. hund, E. hound (for the chase only, in other cases dog, AS. docge), Du. hond, LG. hund. If the second syllable in hun-da- is a derivative (comp. Hinde), the Teut. word corresponds to Aryan kun-, ‘dog’; comp. Gr. κύων (gen. κυν-ὁς), Sans. çvã (gen. çún-as), Lat. canis, Lith. szu̇ (stem szun-), OIr. cú. Thus the Aryans in their primit. home were already acquainted with the dog as distinct from the wolf. In Teut. it might also appear as if the word were connected with an old str. vb. hinþan, ‘to catch’ (in Goth.); in popular etymology Hund might he regarded as the ‘captor, hunter, taker of prey.’ The phrase auf den Hund kommen,

‘to fall into poverty, go to the dogs,’ seems to be based upon the OTeut. expression in dice-playing (see gefallen, Sau, and also Daus); probably Hund, like Lat. canis and Gr. κύων, denoted an unlucky throw; in Sans. the professional gambler is called ‘dog-slayer’ (çvaghnin). The probable antiquity of dice-playing is attested by Tacitus' account of the Teutons and by the songs of the Vedas.

Hundert, n., ‘hundred,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and late OHG. hundert, n.; comp. OSax. hunderod, AS. and E. hundred, and the equiv. OIc. hundrað, n.; Goth. *hundaraþ (gen. -dis) is wanting; the word is evidently a compound, the second part of which is connected with Goth. raþjan, ‘to count’ (comp. Rede). The first component was used alone for ‘hundred’; comp. Goth. twa hunda, 200, þrija hunda, 300, &c.; OHG. zwei hunt, driu hunt, &c., AS. tâ hund, þreo hund, 200, 300. This simple term is an Aryan form, Teut. hunda-, from pre-Teut. kmtó-; comp. Lat. centum, Gr. ἑκατόν, Sans. çatám, Zend sata, Lith. szimtas (m is changed in Teut. into n before d; see Rand); OSlov. sŭto is probably derived from Iran. sata. But while the word, judging from the correspondences in these language, denoted our decimal ‘hundred’ in primit. Aryan, we find that it is used in OTeut. for 120, the so-called duodecimal hundred. In OIc. hundraþ in the pre-Christian period denoted only 120, a distinction being made at a later period between tólfrœtt hundraþ, 120, and tírœtt hundraþ, 100; even at the present time hundraþ denotes the duodecimal hundred in Iceland. In Goth. we have only indirect evidence of the combination of the decimal and duodecimal numeration, taíhuntê-hund, ‘ten times ten,’ but twa hunda, 200 (OIc. tíu-tiger, ‘ten tens, 100’). So too in OHG. and AS.; comp. OHG. zëhanzo, ‘100,’ prop. ‘ten tens,’ and also einhunt, AS. teóntig, but tû hund. In other cases also the co-existence of the duodecimal and decimal system may be seen in OTeut. In G. the word for 120 became obsolete at an early period, but its existence may be inferred from the fact that the old word hund in OHG. and MidHG. was used only for several hundreds, while hundred was expressed almost entirely by zëhanzo and zëhenzig.

Hundsfott, m., first occurs in early ModHG., lit. “‘cunnus canis.’ Borrowed from the shamelessness of the ‘proud’ bitch.”