4

Both words have similar meanings and they both seem phonetically similar as well. So, it seems to me that there's the possibility of some relation between the two words.

I'm curious if one of the words is derived or borrowed from the other, or if perhaps they share some common "ancestor" word borrowed from a completely different language.

According to en.wiktionary.org/wiki/рейс, the Russian рейс is derived from reis in Dutch.

And, according to en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reis, the Dutch word appears to have been borrowed from Estonian (at least that was how I vaguely understood the page). And, subsequently the Estonian word was derived from the German Reise.

So, my preliminary research has lead me to believe that the Russian рейс is indirectly derived from the German Reise. Although, I'm not really confident that this is entirely accurate.

Improve this question
4
  • 1
    Wikipedia doesn't say that the Dutch word "reis" is borrowed from Estonian, you are wrong. That's a word found in many Germanic languages, even in Gothic.
    – Yellow Sky
    Jul 20, 2013 at 2:39
  • @YellowSky Yes, you're right. I inferred that based upon the way the information was presented on the page. I'll admit that it was a bit of a stretch though. Also, the lack of any solid connection there was what really prompted me to ask this question in the first place.
    – Александр
    Jul 20, 2013 at 2:44
  • 1
    Basically, the majority of Russian navy and sailing terms are borrowed from Dutch, dozens and dozens of them, but I don't know much about Germans being skillful sailors or about German sailing terms in Russian. Besides, the Dutch word sounds exactly like the Russian one, and the German one sounds differently. Why do you doubt it that "рейс" is a borrowing from Dutch?
    – Yellow Sky
    Jul 20, 2013 at 2:59
  • @YellowSky I'm sorry, I should have been more clear; I was unsure about the link to the Estonian word, not the Dutch word.
    – Александр
    Jul 24, 2013 at 16:56

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4

Yes, these words are cognates.

According to etymolgical dictionaries, the Russian word рейс wasn't borrowed from German but rather from Dutch where it is known as reis.

Both the German Reise and the Dutch reis have the same origin and are derived from Old High German reisa (“a setting out, expedtion, journey”) from Proto-Germanic *raisōną (“to set out, depart”), from Proto-Indo-European *rei- (“to rise, arise”).

This word has cognates in many languages:

North Frisian reyse (“travel, expedition”), Danish rejse (“journey, trip, travel”), Swedish resa (“trip, journey”), Old English rāsian (“to explore, examine, research”).

Improve this answer

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.