Based on my general knowledge of Germanic languages, he said “They are in [something] Iceland”. To my delight, Google informs me “Lýðveldið” means “the republic”.
Since I know the Icelanders are very nationalistic about their language (recently having dropped several “foreign” letters from their alphabet!), I suspect the word is a translation of the Latin “res publica” (the people’s thing), so I suspect the first part of the word is the same as German “Leute” or Russian “Lyudi”, both meaning people.
I am guessing the final letter edh is the definite article “the” at the end of the noun as in Swedish. So that leaves “veld(i?)”, which I can’t figure out the etymology of.
pschearer, right you are. Lýðveldi means republic yes, veldi means rule so rule of the people. Veldi - vald, að valda (to rule or to manage something) See here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=wald&searchmode=none
sigh this is probably overly negative, but I hate it when people spell word from other languages in their own alphabets, mostly because even if it’s my language I can’t make scene of it any more.
hildigunnurr Premium Member over 13 years ago
bwahahah! Well, welcome, any time…
cleokaya over 13 years ago
That explains all the ice.
runar over 13 years ago
Þau eru á Lýðveldið Ísland.
Paula over 13 years ago
Looks like Svedish to me, ya.
BeniHanna6 Premium Member over 13 years ago
Oh my God, they’ve made it to Iceland.
Sugie63 over 13 years ago
Cool!!!
pschearer Premium Member over 13 years ago
Runar: What, no runes?
Based on my general knowledge of Germanic languages, he said “They are in [something] Iceland”. To my delight, Google informs me “Lýðveldið” means “the republic”.
Since I know the Icelanders are very nationalistic about their language (recently having dropped several “foreign” letters from their alphabet!), I suspect the word is a translation of the Latin “res publica” (the people’s thing), so I suspect the first part of the word is the same as German “Leute” or Russian “Lyudi”, both meaning people.
I am guessing the final letter edh is the definite article “the” at the end of the noun as in Swedish. So that leaves “veld(i?)”, which I can’t figure out the etymology of.
Gee, that was fun! Let’s play some more!
hildigunnurr Premium Member over 13 years ago
pschearer, right you are. Lýðveldi means republic yes, veldi means rule so rule of the people. Veldi - vald, að valda (to rule or to manage something) See here: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=wald&searchmode=none
hildigunnurr Premium Member over 13 years ago
and Runar, well to complicate things: Þau eru á Lýðveldinu Íslandi… :D
pschearer Premium Member over 13 years ago
Many thanks, Hildigunnur. So “veldi” is the same root as German “Walt” or English “wield”. I love this stuff!
And thanks for the etymonline link, though it means I may never leave the house again! (Just kidding.)
sillykit almost 13 years ago
sigh this is probably overly negative, but I hate it when people spell word from other languages in their own alphabets, mostly because even if it’s my language I can’t make scene of it any more.