LL-L: "Morphology" LOWLANDS-L, 30.AUG.2001 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 30.AUG.2001 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachian, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic, Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: "Randy Elzinga" <frisiancow at hotmail.com>
Subject:

Dear Lowlanders,

Ian wrote:

Actually the agent noun suffix -ar is more common in
Scots ('millar', 'makar' as well as forms such as
'beggar' and 'burglar' of course). The suffix -ie is
occasional as well it seems, most notably perhaps
'gamie' for English 'player'.

This brings to mind a friend of mine, here in Ontario, Canada, who, instead
of saying or 'goody', would say gooder(when reading back, it looks like a
comparitive, but it's not).  I suppose there may be a sense that the goody
is an 'agent of goodness'.

If I am not mistaken, I recall from previous discussions on diminutives,
that '-ie' is a diminutive in Scots, equivalent to English '-y'.  It would
seem here that, while in Scots the agent suffix replaces the diminutive
suffix, in my friends variety of Canadian English, the diminutive replaces
the agent.

This leads me to ask the question:

Does the interchange of diminutives and agent suffixes occur in other
contexts or in other Lowlands languages?

Randy Elzinga
frisiancow at hotmail.com

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Morphology

Dear Lowlanders,

I wonder if other languages have any cognates of the Low Saxon (Low German)
feminine suffix (or enclitic) _-sch_ [S] or its older and in some dialects
still used form _-sche_ [Se]~[S@].

(It may be an enclitic, because it, which is never stressed itself, has no
influence on the stress pattern of the word to which it is added; e.g.,
_Möller_ ['m9l3] > _Möllersche_ ['m9l3Se].)

Originally, this suffix denoted "wife of ...", and it therefore occurs mostly
with the definite article _de(i)_ [dE(%)I], unless it is used as a form of
address, which nowadays is rare.  Thus, for example, _de Möllersche_ or _de
Möllersch_ means 'the wife of the miller (of the village)'.  Later, this came
to be extended to any surname; e.g., _de Niebu(u)rsche_ 'Mrs. Niebu(u)r' (=
"Mr. Niebu(u)r's wife").  In some dialects, this feminine derivative (which
identified women by means of their husbands' professions or surnames) came to
denote female professionals; e.g., _Doktersch_ 'female physician' (or 'wife of
the physician'), _Afkaatsch_ 'female attorney/solicitor', Aftekersch_ 'female
pharmacist', _Backersch_ 'female baker', _Schoolmeestersch_ 'female teacher',
_Kööksch_ 'female cook'.  _Kööksch_ is still used in most dialects, but the
others occur only sporadically.  There is now a move away from this in
Northern Germany, and German-derived _-in_ is taking over, along with but not
dependent on German-derived nouns; e.g., _Lehrerin_ 'female teacher',
_Aftekerin_ ~ _Apothekerin_ 'female pharmacist.'

Apparently, Russian _-sha_ [S@] is derived from this.

I assume that this Low Saxon morpheme is derived from a suffix compound, the
_-sch_ being the suffix of manner or similarity (related to German _-isch_,
English _-ish_ and Dutch _-s(ch)_), and the second being feminine _-e_ (<
_-a_).

Any input would be appreciated.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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