Re: Odainsakur


Brian M. Scott wrote:
Heidi Graw wrote:

[...]

Perhaps Zurich was an popular centre where an important
heathen temple had been built where Ziu was worshipped
and his guidance was sought. Rich from Richter...judge.
The seat of the Ziu-Richter might have morphed into the
word Zurich over time.

Utter rubbish. A 2nd century CE gravestone mentions STA
TVR, i.e., Stationis Turicensis, attesting to the Roman name
<Turicum>. Medieval Latin forms include <Turigum> 807,
<Turegum> ca. 853, <Thuregum> 876, and <Thuricum> 1290.
Early German forms include <Zurih> 810 x 820, and <Zurihc>
924, and the Zürichgau appears as <Zurigavia> 744. The
German name is clearly derived from the older Latin name:
<Zurih> is exactly what one would expect <Turic-> to become
in Old High German.

The origin of the Latin name is uncertain;
<http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geschichte_der_Stadt_Z%C3%BCrich>
and <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z%C3%BCrich> suggest that
it is most likely from a Celtic personal name <Turus>.

Sheesh, in the time it takes to download a Wikipedia entry, I could
have made hard-boiled eggs. One of them was worthwhile, however, for
it has an image of the gravestone, and careful inspection shows that
the abbreviation is in fact STA TVRIC, with the R and I ligated. This
is important for establishing the antiquity of the stem.

I find the etymology from <Turus> rather lame. If the place was named
in Roman times, one would rather expect *Turiacum or *Turianum from the
gentilicium <Turius>, here formed from <Turus>. In Italy we have
<Torano> and <Turano> from this gentilicium, in Spain <Toreno>, and in
France <Turenne> from the cognomen <Turennus>, probably also formed
from <Turus>. <Turicum> thus likely represents a Gaulish *Turicon
based not on a personal name, but on a Celtic appellative *turis found
also in the Celtiberian toponyms <Turiaso> and <Turibriga>. *Turicon
would be a substantivized neuter adjective in -ko-, like the masculine
*ambicos 'river-fish' from <ambis> 'river' (in Polemius Silvius
<ambicus> 'unidentified fish', MS. <ambions>). I have no clue as to
the meaning of *turis. Possibly it is identical to the Tarraconian
river-name <Turis>, but as Gaulish hydronyms were sometimes identical
with zoonyms, no real help is provided.

.