LL-L "Semantics" 2001.11.06 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 06.NOV.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: Holger Weigelt <platt at HOLGER-WEIGELT.DE>
Subject: LL-L "Vocabulary" 2001.11.02 (02) [E]

From: AEDUIN at aol.com
Subject: LL-L "Vocabulary" 2001.11.01 (02) [E]

Holger Weigelt writes:

   This is a dubious doing
   for Dutch...

Interesting use of "doing", as we have an English group substitute noun
for
a
class of objects that cannot be brought to mind immediately
or about which we want to be mildly perjorative/amusing but which are
things
that will have a curent importance. The word is "doings"
always with the s on the end and used like this:
"Have you got the doings?", where "doings"  could be a substitute for a
wedding suit or a picnic set or a toolkit. It seems that there must
always be a defined occasion that will be affected by the presence or
absence
of the "doings". A newish variation for the singular is to use
the words "doobry" or "doofry"

Regards

Edwin Deady

Dear Edwin !
It is nice to learn about such delicacies of a foreign language. I'm not
a
native speaker of English and for this reason I must beg You pardon if I
make mistakes or if my use of a word is a bit apart from its common
meaning
especially if I write too spontaneously . I hope You nevertheless
understand what I want to say. Sure, there will be Germanisms that make
You
smile. In the case mentioned above I had better used "attempt" or
"venture"
or something like that. But the sense of "doings" as You told it seems
to
correspond with German "Sachen" (things) that can denote nearly
everything -
clothing, a toolkit, papers, statistical data or something more abstract
like "attempt". Such the sentence discussed in German may well
sound "...das  ist eine zweifelhafte Sache...".

with best wishes
Holger

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From: Holger Weigelt <platt at HOLGER-WEIGELT.DE>
Subject: LL-L "Semantics" 2001.11.02 (08) [E]

From: Brad Thiele <bradley at onetel.net.uk>
Subject:

Dear Lowlanders,

I'd like to ask for observations about the use of the
word "well" to mean the opposite of "not".

As a native (Australian) english speaker, the only time I
would use it would be in e.g. "That could well be", however I
was surprised to encounter its equivalent "wel" in Dutch when
studying the language during the two years I lived in
Amsterdam recently.  (Probably most famously in "dank je
wel") I've also noticed having lived in London for the last
18 months that the word is in frequent use in the same
context as it is in dutch: "That is well nice", however even
those who use this construct would probably admit that it's
not "proper english".

>>From my reasonable knowledge of Swedish, I've also observed
its word "väl" to be used in a similar way.

Is this word used in other lowlands languages?  And does
anyone have any information on its history within english?

Regards

Brad

Hello Brad !
In German the word "wohl" takes this place. "Wohl" can be a substantive
meaning "welfare", "good health" and more like these. It can also be
a "Modalpartikel" (can somebody help me with the English word ?) or an
adverb that announces an assumption. Also it is a part of many
composites
(wohlhabend = wealthy, wohlriechend = fragrant, wohlschmeckend = tasty,
wohltuend comforting, wohlwollend = benevolent, Wohlstand = wealth and
many
more).
In East Frisian LS we have "wal" (and as a remain from earlyer times
~wel
in a few words like "farwel"). Similar to German "wal" can announce an
assumption. In some cases it simply means "yes". It can also be used to
confirm a statement when somebody doubts about it.

kind regards
Holger

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