Fr and Th, “Þ” or “ð” as in Friþuz or Peace in Germanic Languages in a Daily Dose of Peace

A Daily Dose of Peace. Each week, I focus on Love, Joy, and Peace in the world languages. January’s third week focuses on Germany in Europe.

Peace, Tranquility and harmony in Germanic, Saxon and Old English languages poetry with Kimberly Burnham Photo by Karsten Würth on Unsplash

TH, Þ and as in Peace in Germanic Languages

“Friþuz” is the word for peace
and reconciliation in Proto-Germanic
“Þ” pronounced like “TH”
as in “thanks” or “think”
related to the West Germanic “friþu”
Old English “friþ” or “friþu” means peace
refuge and sanctuary

Moving into Middle English as “Frith” [fɹɪθ] or “Friþ”
“Freth”, “Freþand”, “Firth” or “Frith”
a state of peace or traditional or customary law
in Old Danish from Old Norse “Friðr”
and from Old English “Friþian” make peace with
cherish, protect, guard, defend, keep, and observe
“Frede” in Danish pronounced [freːðə] or [ˈfʁ̥æðð̩]
means to protect, preserve by law and to spare

Descendants of “Friþuz” peace
include Old Frisian “Fretho”
Saterland Frisian “Free”
West Frisian “Frede”
Old Saxon “Frithu” [frɪðʊ]
“Д or “ð” pronounced TH
as in smooth or other

In Germanic Dutch languages
“F” shifts to a “V” sound
peace and tranquility is “Vrede” in Dutch
from Middle Dutch “Vrēde” pronouncedˈ[frɪə̯.də]
Old Dutch “Fritho” or “Frithu”
Middle Low German “Vrēde”
German Low German “Freed”
all carry a meaning of peace

Westphalian languages bring us
peace in Münsterländer “Frää, Frääden, Frääde, Frääne, Freeden”
in Münsterländisch “Friäde, Friäden; Tefriäden”
in East Westphalian “Friae“ (Ravensbergisch)”

More Dutch languages
Plautdietsch “Fräd”
Old Dutch “Frithu”
Dutch “Vrede”, “Vree”, “Vreed”
or Afrikaans “Vrede”

The theme continues in more Germanic languages
Limburgish “Vrieëd”
Old High German “Fridu”
Middle High German “Vride” or “Vrit”
Cimbrian “Friide”
German “Friede” or “Frieden”
Luxembourgish “Fridden” peace and harmony
written in Yiddish פֿרידן ‎pronounced “Fridn”

Peace appears in Vulgar Latin as “Fridū”
and Scandinavian languages
like Old Norse peace is “Friðr”
Danish “Fred”
Faroese “Friður”
Icelandic “Friður” peace and tranquility
Norwegian Bokmål “Fred”
Norwegian Nynorsk “Fred”
Old Swedish “Friþer”
Swedish “Fred” or “Frid”
and in Gothic written 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌸𐌿𐍃 pronounced “Friþus”

Peace and Tranquility in Germanic languages poetry with Kimberly Burnham Photo by Max Saeling on Unsplash

Originally Published in Peace Poetry Dictionary, The Meaning of Peace and Calm in 5000 Languages on January 19, 2021.