| Remarks |
'Black' from Old English 'sweart' (modern English 'swart, swarthy' related to German 'schwarz', i.e., black) replaced by Old English 'blæc' (related extinct forms are Old Norse 'blakkr', i.e., dark and Old Saxon 'blac', i.e., ink) of obscure origin but could be related to Latin 'flagrare' and Greek 'phlégein', i.e., burn, from Indo-European base 'phleg, bhleg' (p. 65 in Ref. 11979); 'back' from prehistoric West and North Germanic 'bakam' (Old High German 'bah' and Old Norse 'bak' relatives replaced by English 'ridge', i.e., spine, e.g. German 'rücken' and Swedish 'rygg') (p. 47 in Ref. 11979); 'salmon' replaced Old English 'laex' (German 'lachs'; Swedish 'lax', source of English 'gravlax'; Yiddish 'laks', source of English 'lox', i.e., smoked salmon; Russian 'losos') borrowed from Anglo-Norman 'saumoun' from Latin 'salmo, -onis' linked to 'salire', i.e., to jump and hence, the leaping fish (p. 454 in Ref. 11979). |