Mankind
Quarterly, Vol. 50, No. 1-2 (Fall-Winter 2009)
pp. 24-70
Linguistic-Historical Implications of an Old Germanic Loan – Romanian gard ‘fence, enclosure, weir, garden’
Adrian Poruciuc
Alexandru Ioan Cuza, University of Iaşi, Romania
The author of this article aims to clarify the etymology of
the much discussed Romanian term gard. Three main
etymological explanations have so far been proposed for that
term: (1) earliest of all, Diez considered that Gothic gards
(‘house, homestead, household enclosure, court, courtyard,
praetorium, household, family’) could account for both
Romanian gard and Albanian gardh (‘fence, hedge, palisade,
dam’); about one century later Gamillscheg also sustained
the Old Germanic origin of Romanian gard; (2) most other
scholars joined Miklosich’s authoritative opinion according
to which Romanian gard simply derived from Old Slavic gradъ
(‘city’); (3) in more recent times, several specialists
considered Romanian gard to be a substratal (Thraco-Dacian)
term closely related to Albanian gardh. The present author
puts forward his own arguments (linguistic, as well as
historical, archaeological and ethnological) in favor of the
Old Germanic origin of Romanian gard.
