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explaining the civil war to americans: "imagine if slaves had no burger" (lemmy.blahaj.zone)

submitted 2 weeks ago by nicknonya@lemmy.blahaj.zone to c/196@lemmy.blahaj.zone

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[-] norimee@lemmy.world 18 points 2 weeks ago

Excuse me, but Burg is a castle build for defence. People of the area could get behind their walls in a case of attack, so many settled in close proximity for safety. The resulting town was often called Burg in the middle ages, but thats not true for today.

In todays language Burg does not mean town anymore. It is only used for a kind of castle. You can't ask "In welcher Burg wohnst du?"

Unless you still live in the middle ages of course.

[-] FundMECFSResearch@lemmy.blahaj.zone 9 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Thanks for the clarification.

For anyone wondering, the story is a little more muddy:

Old Frisian burich "castle, city," Old Norse borg "wall, castle," Old High German burg, buruc "fortified place, citadel," German Burg "castle," Gothic baurgs "city"), which Watkins derives from from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills, hill forts, and fortified elevations.