GERMAN STAMMBAUM ‘FAMILY TREE’ — A MULTIMODAL WORD HISTORY
Bettina Bock
The paper deals with the concept of family tree and German word Stammbaum. is placed in larger context plant-human metaphor. This metaphor already found Ancient Near East Sumerian cosmogony. It also known from Bible. And it deeply rooted Indo-Europeania can be traced through reconstructed Proto-Indo-European, Greek Latin mythology, or Germanic Slavic wood idols. article compiles frequently cited texts passages on topic add an early evidence for a “tree kinship”. oldest attestation dates back to time around 650, but this probably isolated evidence, even though Isidore Seville describes stemma (the Roman genealogical table) ramusculi ‘little branch’ his Etymologiae. There no need conclude that was tree, if modern kinship” suggests. Rather, art historical studies have shown between 9th 12th centuries various forms representation were tested, 1200 familiar estabablished as form we know now only one. A first linguistic testimony Albertus Magnus. Together trees Carolingians Guelphs, thesis developed, against background deep anchoring Germanic, takes up these old ideas, too, sound similarity Stamm supported formation
German Philology at the St Petersburg State University