Is the English guinea pig a pig from Guinea, and the German Meerschweinchen a piggy from the sea?, or two old problems revisited
Is the English guinea pig a pig from Guinea, and the German Meerschweinchen a piggy from the sea?, or two old problems revisited
Author(s): Marek StachowskiSubject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: etymology; English language; German language; Romance languages; biological terminology
Summary/Abstract: The old problem of the origins of the English name guinea pig is discussed here in the context of its equivalents in some other European languages (one of them being German Meerschweinchen). Some new suggestions concerning both components of the English name and the original meaning of the German designation are made.
Journal: Studia Linguistica Universitatis Iagellonicae Cracoviensis
- Issue Year: 131/2014
- Issue No: 2
- Page Range: 221-228
- Page Count: 8
- Language: English
