LL-L "Language contacts" 2002.05.13 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 13.MAY.2002 (07) * 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: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language contacts

Lowlanders,

We discuss a lot about cognates, i.e., the commonly inherited Lowlandic
lexicon.  I would like to see us delve a bit more into inter-Lowlandic
language contacts if enough of you are interested in it.  We know of
massive medieval and later Low Saxon (Low German) influences on
Scandinavian, Baltic, Balto-Finnic, Kashubian and German.  (Most of
German maritime terminology is Low-Saxon-derived, which should not come
as a surprise.)  Borrowing back and forth *among* the Lowlandic
languages goes back a long way and is not terribly well explored,
judging by vague references and frequent mention of "origin uncertain"
in dictionaries.  English etymologists often refer to medieval Dutch
loans, and I sometimes wonder if those could not just as well be
medieval Low Saxon ones, considering that the British Isles had a lot of
contacts with both language communities.  This list is in the almost
unique position to explore this further, not forgetting Zeelandic, whose
varieties have dominated maritime "Dutch" activities and served as roots
of overseas "Dutch" pidgins and creoles.  I realize that at times it is
not easy to determine what is a cognate and what is a loan, and which
way a given loan traveled.

Allow me to kick it off.

Of course, there was Scots _dunner_ 'to make a loud noise', that I
strongly suspect to be a Dutch or Low Saxon loan, presently favoring the
Low Saxon loan theory, as explained under "Etymology" today.

Then there is Scots _keek_ 'to peep', apparently also known in British
English (as a Scots loan, I suppose).  In Dutch you have _kijken_, and
in Low Saxon _kieken_ ['ki:kN=], both meaning 'to look'.  Middle English
had _kike_ (presumably pronounced ['ki:k@]).  The Oxford Dictionary only
makes the reader compare this with Dutch _kijken_, does not say it is a
loan.  However, apparently there is no Old English cognate.  What
particularly intrigues me is that this word did not undergo the expected
shift /ii/ > /ai/ (and Scots /ii/ > /@i/?), i.e., is not *_kike_ *[kaIk]
but _keek_ [ki:k].  Might this mean that, if there were English and
Scots cognates, _keek_ came to be reintroduced?  If so, and if it was
Dutch, it would have been before Dutch underwent the ii > ij (/ii/ >
/^I/) shift.  (When was that?).  Low Saxon, of course, never underwent
this shift.

There is also the English word _keel_ [ki:l] (as in 'lowest longitudinal
timber of a boat or ship').  The Oxford and Partridge say it started as
Middle English _kele_ and is a Nordic loan; cf. Old Norse _kjölr_ (hence
/kjöl/ + masculine /_r/).  I find this just a tad hard to swallow.
Again, I would expect this to come out shifted to *_kile_ (/ii/ > /ai/)
in English.  Low Saxon has _Kiel_ [ki:l], which was borrowed into German
as _Kiel_ [ki:l].  Dutch also has _kiel_ [ki:l].  In all of these
languages, the word specifically denotes this part of a boat or ship,
except in Low Saxon where it also denotes 'wedge' ("wedge" > "keel"?).
Coincidence or origin?  Thus, in German you have Low-Saxon-derived
(post-shift) _Kiel_ [ki:l] 'keel' and native (shifted) _Keil_ [kaIl]
'wedge'.  I suspect Dutch _kiel_ to be a loan, for otherwise I would
expect *_kijl_.  But is it an English loan or a Low Saxon one?
Difficult, since Dutch has had maritime contacts with both speech
communities.  (Dutch for 'wedge' is _weg_.)  There is also the English
term 'to keelhaul' and its Low Saxon counterpart _kielhalen_ (> German
_kielholen_) and its Dutch counterpart _kielhalen_.  Which way did this
term travel?

Low Saxon, especially its coastal dialects, has many pre-modern English
loans, particularly those related to maritime business, and most of
these have made their way into German, either into specific dialects or
sociolects or all the way into Standard German.  Right off the top of my
head I can think of two loans that have not made their way into German
beyond Missingsch (Low-Saxon-rooted German): _Kru_ [kru:] '(ship's)
crew' (feminine, pl. _Kruus_ [kru:s]), and _Törn_ [t9.3n] 'turn',
'trip', 'go' (masculine, pl. _Törns_ [t9.3ns]).  In some Low Saxon
dialects of port cities and their surroundings, _Törn_, obviously
introduced by seafarers, has come to denote any trip (not only on
water), especially a short trip or an outing, in the sense of "going and
returning," i.e., "roundtrip" ("making a turn").  Furthermore, it can
also denote 'turn' as in "having a go," also '(work) shift'.  You may,
for instance, say _Nu büst du an d'n Törn_ or _Nu kümmst du an d'n Törn_
'It's your turn now', alternatively with _Reeg'_ [rE.Ij] 'row', 'line',
'queue', _Nu büst du an de Reeg'_ (cf. German _Jetzt bist du an der
Reihe_).  You might also ask, _Wenn hest du dien Törn_ 'Which (work)
shift do you have?'

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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