Chaemae
Encyclopedia
The name, Chaemae, were an ancient Germanic tribe cited by Ptolemy
in his Geography
(2.10) as Chaimai, which also can be written in English, Khaimai. Ptolemy tells us next to nothing about them, only that they were next to the Bructeri
. That little turns out to be a great deal. It is often suggested that the Chaemae and the Banochaemae
are alternative names for the Chamavi
, based on a common derivation. We know, however, that the Chamavi and their neighbors forcibly expelled the Bructeri from their original lands, which became Hamaland after the Chamavi moved in. The two peoples are not likely to have had neighborly feelings for each other now.
All three names probably come from common Germanic *haimaz, "home", from Indo-European *tkei-, "settle." Where the Cham-avi reflect the ham- form (English ham-let), the other two reflect the -heim form (as in Bo-haem-ia). The monophthong
ization was an Ingvaeonic
innovation. We are more familiar with -ham because a large part of the lowlanders moved to Britain.
The Chaemi may reflect a more ancient distribution of people calling themselves "settlers" or "natives." Why they would have done so remains obscure, but the name is of the same type as hed- (English heath), human and possibly but less certainly man
and Aryan
.
Ptolemy
Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...
in his Geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
(2.10) as Chaimai, which also can be written in English, Khaimai. Ptolemy tells us next to nothing about them, only that they were next to the Bructeri
Bructeri
The Bructeri were a Germanic tribe located in northwestern Germany , between the Lippe and Ems rivers south of the Teutoburg Forest, in present-day North Rhine-Westphalia around 100 BC through 350 AD....
. That little turns out to be a great deal. It is often suggested that the Chaemae and the Banochaemae
Banochaemae
The Banochaemae, Baenochaemae, Bainochaimai or Bonochamae were a Germanic tribe recorded by Ptolemy. According to him, they lived east of the Chamavi tribe, near the Elbe river....
are alternative names for the Chamavi
Chamavi
The Chamavi were a Germanic tribe of Late Antiquity and the European Dark Age. They first appear under that name in the 1st century AD Germania of Tacitus as a Germanic tribe that, for most of their history, existed along the North bank of the Lower Rhine in the region today called Hamaland after...
, based on a common derivation. We know, however, that the Chamavi and their neighbors forcibly expelled the Bructeri from their original lands, which became Hamaland after the Chamavi moved in. The two peoples are not likely to have had neighborly feelings for each other now.
All three names probably come from common Germanic *haimaz, "home", from Indo-European *tkei-, "settle." Where the Cham-avi reflect the ham- form (English ham-let), the other two reflect the -heim form (as in Bo-haem-ia). The monophthong
Monophthong
A monophthong is a pure vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation....
ization was an Ingvaeonic
Ingvaeonic
Ingvaeonic , also known as North Sea Germanic, is a postulated grouping of the West Germanic languages that comprises Old Frisian, Old English and Old Saxon....
innovation. We are more familiar with -ham because a large part of the lowlanders moved to Britain.
The Chaemi may reflect a more ancient distribution of people calling themselves "settlers" or "natives." Why they would have done so remains obscure, but the name is of the same type as hed- (English heath), human and possibly but less certainly man
Man
The term man is used for an adult human male . However, man is sometimes used to refer to humanity as a whole...
and Aryan
Aryan
Aryan is an English language loanword derived from Sanskrit ārya and denoting variously*In scholarly usage:**Indo-Iranian languages *in dated usage:**the Indo-European languages more generally and their speakers...
.