Dialogue, language, learning LO25866

From: Winfried Dressler (winfried.dressler@voith.de)
Date: 01/12/01


Replying to LO25859 --

Dear all,

While reading your contribution, At, it struck me how different ENG and
AFR is from GER. Wholeness or heelheid - you wrote on the difference
between -ness and -hood - I had difficulties to remember the german word
for it: Ganzheit(lichkeit). A double-hood attached to the root "Ganz".
(Now I should be able to check with an etymological dictionary, which I
don't have.) "Ganz" is well translated into "whole", as well as the german
word "heil", which I think is closer to "whole" etymologically. The
connotation of "ganz" is more of "not broken" while "heil" is more "not
ill". The connection of "-heit" or "-keit" to head has gone lost: "head"
is translated "Kopf" - a completely different root. Only in "Hut" ("hat"
in ENG) there is still a relation to "hood", but "Hut" and "keit" also
have little in common. So far for the "head".

Let's come to the "heart" - "Nest" is in german the same as english
"nest", "-ness" and we also have the suffix "-nis". But what are the words
to which this suffix is attached? I could sort a search with "*nis" in my
electronic dictionary into three categories:

Aergernis, Faeulnis, Wirrnis, Bedraengnis, Bekuemmernis, Besorgnis,
Betruebnis, Bitternis, Hindernis, Hemmnis, Erschwernis, Finsternis,
Saeumnis, Zerwuerfnis, Verdammnis, Verderbnis,

Wagnis, Erlebnis, Geheimnis, Bekenntnis, Besaeufnis, Bedürfnis,

Zeugnis, Ergebnis, Erlaubnis, Befugnis, Verzeichnis, Ereignis, Kenntnis,
Gedaechtnis, Erkenntnis, Verhaeltnis, Erzeugnis, Bildnis, Bündnis,
Gestaendnis, Penis (oups), Empfaengnis, Erfordernis, Ersparnis, Gleichnis,
Vermaechtnis, Begraebnis, Wildnis, Bewandnis,

In the last category, the meaning of "-nis" could be directly stemming
from "Nest" and less from "heart". These words are mostly containing the
meaning of the root. For example "Ersparnis" ("savings") contain what has
been saved. Thus I doubt that for example "Gedaechtnis" ("memory") intends
to connect head (Gedaecht-) and heart (-nis) :-) but it means what the
head contains.

In the second category, I have collected a few words, which do relate more
to the heart and emotions.

The first category contains all those words which strongly connects to
emotions, heart-issues. AND THEY ARE ALL NEGATIVE. A collection of words
of darkness (Finsternis), the evil parks oneself on somebody -
"einnisten", parasites. I can smell the influence of medieval fear. Was it
an influence of enlightenment to introduce all the "-heit" and "-keit"
words?

My dictionary listed
232 german words ending with "-nis"
977 german words ending with "-keit" and 502 ending with "-heit"

622 english words ending with "-ness"
34 english words ending with "-hood"

The relation between heart and head can hardly be defined. Yet I wish you
all a good balance.

Liebe Gruesse,

Winfried

-- 

"Winfried Dressler" <winfried.dressler@voith.de>

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