LL-L "Etymology" 2002.04.27 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 27.APR.2002 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: "John M. Tait" <jmtait at wirhoose.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2002.04.26 (03) [E]

Old Stig wrote:

>I am the happy owner of Elof Hellquist's "Svensk Etymologisk Ordbok"
>(1922)
>which is rather more informative than any Danish etymological dictionary
>I
>know of, and he is not in doubt that "kviga" is a version of "cow", and
>mentions nothing of any connection to "kvinna" ("queen").

Shetlandic _whaig_ [We:g], [kwek], has the same meaning (Eng. _heifer_)
as does Scots _quey_, _quoi_, from Middle English _quy_. CSD seems to
imply that the Shetland form is derived from a Scots diminutive form
_quey-ock_; but, as these forms occur only in Shetland, Orkney and
Caithness, derivation from Old Norse _kvi/ga_ seems at least equally
likely. Though diminutives ending in [g] rather than [k] occur in
Caithness, this would be very irregular in Shetlandic.

John M. Tait.

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From: "Andy Eagle" <andy at scots-online.org>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2002.04.27 (01) [D/E]

Colin Wilson wrote

> In Scots, we distinguish between "queen" which means the same
> as in English, and "quine" which means girl, although it's fairly
> well known that the two are connected etymologically.
>
> In the 1970s, the comedian Steven Robertson used to do a monologue
> which took the form of his "end" of a supposed telephone conversation
> with Queen Elizabeth. It drew gales of laughter when he addressed her
> as "quine".

The spelling 'quine' represents the north east Scots pronunciation. The
word
was wide spread across lowland Scotland and was often written 'quean'
/kwin,
kwen/ depending on dialect. The word now just tends to be associated
with
north east Scots.
Queen, as Colin says is the same as in English.

Andy Eagle

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

Colin wrote:

> In Scots, we distinguish between "queen" which means the same
> as in English, and "quine" which means girl, although it's fairly
> well known that the two are connected etymologically.
>
> In the 1970s, the comedian Steven Robertson used to do a monologue
> which took the form of his "end" of a supposed telephone conversation
> with Queen Elizabeth. It drew gales of laughter when he addressed her
> as "quine".

Tsk, tsk ...  That was very naughty indeed!  ;)  But it's just the sort
of irreverent thing I would expect that particular bad boy of comedy to
come up with (which may explain his success in Australia, despite the
heavy Scottish "accent").

What is the difference in pronunciation, if any?  There must be one,
given his oral delivery and the audience's reaction.  _Queen_ ~ _queen_
*[kwin] versus _quine_ ~ _quean_ *[kw at in]?

Note also English _queen_ 'femal monarch', 'king's wife', versus archaic
_quean_ 'impudent or ill-behaved girl or woman' (apparently pronounced
identically).  This distinction existed already in Old English, though
also phonologically (_cwên_ versus _cwene_), also in Old Saxon (_cwân_
versus _cwena_), in Old Norse (_kvæn_ versus _kvenna_), Gothic (_qêns_
versus _qino_), and apparently already in Germanic (*_kwææniz_ versus
*_kwenôn_).  Note also Scots _quenry_ '(act of) associating with
prostitutes', 'whoring'; cf. Middle English _quene_ 'prostitute',
'whore', 'slut', 'trollop'.

Remember me mentioning Low Saxon (Low German) _Queen_ ~ _Quään_ ~
_Kween_ ~ _Kwään_ 'young, sexually mature cow'?  There is also English
_queen_ 'female cat' (when mentioned in the context of mating), but
apparently this is not well known outside cat lovers' circles, because I
have not found it mentioned in dictionaries.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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