Tiedän että 'Stonehenge' nimen alkukohta, stone taroittaa kiveä mutta mikän tuo "henge" on?
Vastaus
Oxford English Dictionary sanoo seuraavaa (s.v. Stonehenge):
The name is a compound of stone and an element of uncertain origin, probably related to hang. It is often taken to be a reflex of Old English hengen (a derivative of the base of hang, probably pronounced with affricate /dʒ/), which denotes various instruments of torture (to which the sufferer is attached); in the context of Stonehenge, this may have referred to a gallows, since some of the stone settings resemble an early medieval gallows (there is also some evidence that Stonehenge may have been used as a place of execution at that period). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the second element reflects a (related) unattested Old English form *hencg (on which see hinge; perhaps compare also henge-clif overhanging cliff).
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