The origin of the word “deutsch” (Der Ursprung des Wortes ,,deutsch”)

I recently received an inquiry about the origin of the word “deutsch” (pronounced doytsh) meaning German, or with a capital G, referring to the German language, Deutsch. Many people ask about this as our word German does not sound anything like “deutsch”.

The short answer is that the word deutsch is most akin to the Old High German word diutisc, diot meaning people, and thereby the word deutsch emerged meaning of the German people. The word German on the other hand has Latin roots. This of course is backed up by most college students’ resources these days, Wikipedia.

was used by the Roman historian Tacitus in relation to the Germanic peoples of yore, though the word “germanic” has Latin roots. Aside from describing some not-so-very-favorable traits to the Germans. Read more about Tacitus’s description here. The d and the t sounds are phonetically very similar if not indistinguishable in spelling, and standardized orthography (spelling) did not emerge pretty much until much later with the rise of such German giants in the field of linguistics Konrad Duden and the Brothers Grimm.

The spelling variant “tiutsch” bears a striking resemblance to the earth born god Tiusco some Germanic peoples celebrated.

Alles klar? (Everything clear?) Does that make enough sense? Please post comments / questions below.

If your thirst for knowledge is still not yet sated, you may co-miserate with other confused peoples in their quest to try to understand the origin of the word “Deutsch”.

I recently received an inquiry about the origin of the word “deutsch” (pronounced doytsh) meaning German, or with a capital G, referring to the German language, Deutsch. Many people ask about this as our word German does not sound anything like “deutsch”.

The short answer is that the word deutsch is most akin to the Old High German word diutisc, diot meaning people, and thereby the word deutsch emerged meaning of the German people. The word German on the other hand has Latin roots. This of course is backed up by most college students’ resources these days, Wikipedia.

was used by the Roman historian Tacitus in relation to the Germanic peoples of yore, though the word “germanic” has Latin roots. Aside from describing some not-so-very-favorable traits to the Germans. Read more about Tacitus’s description here. The d and the t sounds are phonetically very similar if not indistinguishable in spelling, and standardized orthography (spelling) did not emerge pretty much until much later with the rise of such German giants in the field of linguistics Konrad Duden and the Brothers Grimm.

The spelling variant “tiutsch” bears a striking resemblance to the earth born god Tiusco some Germanic peoples celebrated.

Alles klar? (Everything clear?) Does that make enough sense? Please post comments / questions below.

If your thirst for knowledge is still not yet sated, you may co-miserate with other confused peoples in their quest to try to understand the origin of the word “Deutsch”.