LL-L: "Delectables" LOWLANDS-L, 01.MAR.2000 (02) [E]

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From: Carl Johan Petersson [Carl_Johan.Petersson at Nordiska.uu.se]
Subject: LL-L: "Delectables" LOWLANDS-L, 28.FEB.2000 (03) [E]

Ron wrote (in reply to Kent):
>If there is indeed this connection, might we not just as well suspect the
>etymology _Lapps kost_ 'Lapp's/Saame's fare'.  This is
>speculation, of course.

Well, speculation it is, indeed...

If, for a start, the origin is a perfectly transparent Scandinavian
compound _*lapp(s)kost_, then we would expect this word to be still
preserved in modern Scandinavian varieties.

However, that is not the case. Instead, looking at the varying forms of
this words in Swedish written sources, we find (as attested in the Swedish
Academy Dictionary) both _lapskojs_ ,_lappskoj_, _lappskaus_, _lapskås_,
_lobskås_ and even _lapsgås_ (_Swedish _gås_='goose'!). This large
variation, and the obvious attempts to somehow "connect" this word to
existing Swedish words such as _skoj_, _kås(a)_ or _gås_ only point in one
direction: _lapskojs_ is obviously a loan. The attested form  _lobskås_
also seems to rule out any connection with the Saami or Lapps.

Hellquist's Swedish Etymological Dictionary assumes English _lobscouse_ to
be the source of the Swedish word. The Swedish Academy Dictionary goes one
step further and states that the source is Low German _labskaus_, which in
its turn is a loan from English, but does not attempt any explanation of
the origin of the English word.

Also, I doubt that there is any connection with the word _kost_. The loss
of final
_t_ after _s_ is unknown in Swedish dialects, and I haven't seen any
example of it from Norwegian either. If there is a connection with _kost_,
that should indicate that the word is of West Germanic origin, possibly Low
Saxon or Dutch, where loss of _t_ is widespread.

Regards,

Carl Johan Petersson

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