LL-L "Etymology" 2002.07.10 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 10.JUL.2002 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: "Luc Hellinckx" <luc.hellinckx at pandora.be>
Subject: Raw materials.

Beste leeglanners,

Medieval knowledge about a body must have been more basic in the sense
that
some bodily funtions were not as clearly understood as they are now, but
on
the other hand man was more directly exposed and accustomed to slaughter
I'm
afraid (both of humans and animals).
On farms, killing animals was almost everyday-business. Therefore I
think
people will surely have known that veins contain blood and nothing else
(OK,
ultimately blood contains useful elements of the food that we eat but
that's
another (newer) story).
Moreover, bloodletting (= tapping blood) was very popular during the
Middle
Ages, so I gather people will surely have noticed that the red liquid
oozing
out of their veins was quite different from...euh...say, "ex-food" (with
which they had a very "down-to-earth"-relationship as well...*pun
intended*).

One possible explanation could be that "aderen" (D), originally meant
something else than it means now, but I have very little proof of that.

The English word "ore", unwrought metal, accidentally sounds just the
same
as my problematic Brabantish "aer", "ader" (D) (except for the "r" which
is
rolling in Brabantish) but is etymologically related to "oer" (D), "ur"
(G)
however.

An "oortje" (coin) stems from the Middle Dutch word "o(o)rt", denoting a
coin that was divided in 4 corners ("oorden") with a cross, hence its
name.
The Swedish currency öre (and its Norwegian and Danish counterparts) on
the
other hand, has its name derived from Latin "aureus", gold coin (aurum
is
gold in Latin).

Which brings us to (raw) materials like gold, copper, bronze, iron,
wood...now that's the kind of stuff that I'd like to see included in any
Swadesh-list.

Oh yes, Rudi Vári asked "Could it then also be that there exist other
expressions based on the same primitive knowledge base?"
I can only think of one Rudi.
When somebody eats something and afterwards he feels that digestion is
not
as smooth as he would like it to be, he could exclaim "Dat ete leit te
weirn
op majn maag". Probably the verb "weirn" is the same as "weren" (D) but
usually this verb is only reflexivally used in Brabantish : "a weirn"  =
"zich weren" (D) = "to exert oneself" (E)...so that's a problem because
people definitely don't say "Dat ete leit öm te weirn op majn maag". In
Middle Dutch though it was possible to use the same verb "weren" in an
intransitive way, meaning "to fight". So, that would attribute some sort
of
an animist belief in food Rudi. Far-fetched, I admit *s*.
Another possibility would be to opt for the Middle Dutch word "werren"
in
this case, which meant "to obstruct".

Greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

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