LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 11.DEC.1999 (06) [E]

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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Etymology

Gerald and I wrote:

> > I came across this in a Mawson Dictionary of Foreign Terms:
> > Prachtausgabe[Ger.], edition de lux; abbr. Pr.-A.
>
> Gerald, _Pracht_ is a German word meaning 'splendor'.  I don't think it has
> anything to do with Low Saxon (Low German) _Pracher_ '(obnoxious) beggar'.
> _Pracht_ (adjective/adverb _prächtig_) comes from Middle High German _braht_
and
> Old High German _praht_ 'noise', 'to-do', 'ostentation', and it is related to
> Middle High German _brach_ 'noise' and Old Saxon _brakôn_ 'to make a crashing
or
> breaking sound', _brahtum_ 'noise', 'crowd', and Old English _breahtm_
'noise',
> 'yelling'.
>
> _Pracht_ 'splendor' and _prächtig_ 'splendiferous' are sometimes used in Low
> Saxon, but I assume they are borrowed from German.  It seems more "native" to
> render 'splendor' as _Staat_ or _Prahl_ ~ _Praal_ (related to German _prahlen_

> 'to boast') and 'splendiferous' as _staatsch_  or _kröönsch_, depending on the

> context.

At second thought, connecting German _Pracht_ 'spendor' (< _braht_ 'noise',
'boasting') with Low Saxon _Pracher_ 'beggar' may not be impossible after all,
Gerald.

As we now know, there was indeed a verb _prachen_ (root /prax-/), as was to be
expected and as it is preserved in Dutch.  The glosses of _prachen_ and
_P/pracher_ seem to point at the original idea of 'begging in a pestering way'.
Add to this the old meaning 'noise (made by voices)' (as found in Old Saxon and
Old English, mentioned in my earlier posting repeated above), and we seem to be
dealing with the idea of 'begging in a bothering, pestering way', which is one
of the glosses listed in dictionaries (e.g., _aufdringlicher Bettler_).  We know
that Low Saxon has a predilection for nicknaming 'to talk' as 'to make noise'
(e.g., _klö(h)nen_ 'to talk', 'to converse' < 'to make noise', _drö(h)nen 'to
talk (in a monotonous, tedious and boring or obnoxious way)' < 'to roar', 'to
boom', 'to rumble').  So _prach-_ may well be another such case found in Dutch
and Low Saxon.  Thus, the idea of 'to beg' has come from 'to go on talking in a
bothering way' which came from 'to make a noise'.

If this is the case, then we might state that the same root (_brah-_) has been
developed to arrive at virtual semantic opposites.

Best regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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