Back لفظ جوال Arabic Wanderwort Breton Vandreord Danish Wanderwort German Kulkusana Finnish Mot voyageur French Wanderwort Irish ונדרוורט HE Parola viaggiante Italian 放浪語 Japanese
A Wanderwort (German: [ˈvandɐvɔʁt], 'migrant word', sometimes pluralized as Wanderwörter, usually capitalized following German practice) is a word that has spread as a loanword among numerous languages and cultures, especially those that are far away from one another. As such, Wanderwörter are a curiosity in historical linguistics and sociolinguistics within a wider study of language contact.[1] At a sufficient time depth, it can be very difficult to establish in which language or language family a Wanderwort originated and into which it was borrowed.
Frequently, they are spread through trade networks, sometimes to describe a previously unfamiliar plant, animal or food.
- ^ Trask, Robert Lawrence (January 2000). The Dictionary of Historical and Comparative Linguistics. Psychology Press. p. 366. ISBN 1-57958-218-4. Retrieved 12 October 2014.