LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 03.MAY.2001 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 03.MAY.2001 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Etymology

Dear Lowlanders,

(1)
I am wondering about the origin of the English word "haversack."  Dictionaries
give French _havresac_ as the donor word and explain that this comes from
German _Habersack_ 'sack/bag for oats'.  I take this with a grain of salt.
Did French regularly convert intervocalic German(ic) /b/ to /v/?  It is true
that 'oats' is _Haber_ (< Old High German _habaro_) in some German dialects,
though it is _Hafer_ in Modern Standard German.  Could French _havresac_ not
have come from Low Saxon (Low German)?  As many of you know already, what in
Old Saxon was written as a _b_ with a bar through the top (perhaps standing
for a bilabial sound like that written _b_ or _v_ in Spanish) has developed
into _b_ or _v_ in Modern Low Saxon, depending on the dialect; i.e., there are
_-b-_-type dialects (e.g., _Haber_ ~ _Hober_ ['hQ:b3] 'oats', _eben_ ['?e:b=m]
'even', _baben_ ~ _boben_ ['b@:b=m] 'above'), and there are _-v-_-type
dialects (e.g., _Haver_ ['hQ:v3] 'oats', _even_ ['?e:v=m] 'even',
_baven_['b@:v=m] 'above').  As far as I know, the _-v-_ possibility does not
exist in varieties of German (proper).  If it came from German (proper),
French _havresac_ might be more likely to have been derived from German
_Hafersack_.  Any input would be appreciated.

(2)
For a simple introduction about Low Saxon (Low German) for an
audience/readership of non-linguists, I would like to provide a handful of
examples of Low Saxon loanwords in English.  I believe that there are several
in the areas of shipping and trading, and apparently all of those seem to be
from the Middle Low Saxon of the Hanseatic Trading League days.  We have tried
to discuss this several times on LL-L, but I can't find many concrete
examples.  One I can think of is "shrimp."  I suppose complicating factors are
that Middle Low Saxon and Middle Dutch have many identical words, the
separation between the two languages was not as clear at the time as it is
now, and the British Isles had trading links with both Dutch/Flemish and
Hanseatic traders and artisans.  This means that some loans in English could
be either Dutch or Low Saxon, and I suspect writers of dictionary entries
tended to err on the side of Dutch (because it is a "real" language).  Thus, I
have heard several times that English "freight" comes from Middle English
_fraught_, which is based on Middle Dutch _vracht_.  Well, Middle Low Saxon
also has _vracht_, and this would have been a frequently used word in the port
cities in which Low Saxon was a lingua franca of maritime trading.  In fact, I
have heard and read several times that English _freight_ is "Low German" by
origin.  Similarly, the origin of _stove_ has been thought to be Dutch by some
and Low Saxon by others.  Other words that have been considered Low Saxon by
origin are "mate" (< _mate_ 'company member'), "shore" (suspected < _schore_
'?', cf. Modern Low Saxon _Schaar(t)_ ~ _Schor(t)_ 'coast', 'coastal land',
'cliff', 'bluff'), and "trade" (< _trade_ 'track').  Anyway, I wonder if any
of you know of other English words of Low Saxon origin -- the more certain the
better.  (I which there were an online English dictionary with etymological
references that lets you search by origin of loans.)

Your help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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