LL-L: "Place names" LOWLANDS-L, 01.FEB.2000 (04) [E]

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From: john feather <johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: Place Names

John Lindley wrote

>I hope that someone may be able to offer enlightenment on ... the suffix
"-ton" found in England and to a lesser extent in Scotland as "-ton" or
"-toun".   In the Domesday Book (1086) it occurs usually as '-tun' and its
original meaning appears to be linked to Dutch 'tuin' and more distantly
German 'Zaun'. Historical geographers generally regard it as an indicator
suffix for areas of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain, originally signifying
enclosure and later successively 'homestead', 'village' and 'town'.<

There is a curious convergence in this and other words we've discussed
recently. Another AS place-name ending is "-den", as in "Debden"
(<"Deep-den") in Essex. In this case "den" signifies a clearing in a forest,
though AS "denu" also means "valley" or "lair".

"Ham", which I think means "homestead" or "village", sometimes gets "-ton"
added to it - perhaps when a village grows above a certain size? So
"Southampton". "Northampton", "Okehampton", etc. (The "p" is a pronunciation
spelling; there's probably a Latin or Greek word for it.)

John Feather johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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

John wrote above:

> There is a curious convergence in this and other words we've discussed
> recently. Another AS place-name ending is "-den", as in "Debden"
> (<"Deep-den") in Essex. In this case "den" signifies a clearing in a forest,

> though AS "denu" also means "valley" or "lair".

As in Modern English 'den'?  Probably, considering that it comes from Old
English _denn_ which basically means 'secluded spot', 'hiding place'.  I
wonder if it is also preserved as _-den_ in North German Emden (which is
situated on the mouth of Ems River, < *Ems-Den?).  Just a wild guess.

I can answer my own question about the ending _-büttel_ (~ _-botel_), at least
in part.  Apparently, it's original meaning is '(piece of) land' (>
'property').  I wonder what its etymological connections are.  It seems to
have the diminutive /+l/, thus appears to come from *_butte+l_.  Not?  Any
connections with 'butt' as in 'cask', Middle German _bütte_ 'cask', 'barrel',
formerly also used as a unit of measure?  "Parcel/portion of land"?

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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