LL-L "Etymology" 2002.10.29 (04) [D/E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 29.OCT.2002 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
               V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: elsie zinsser ezinsser at icon.co.za
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2002.10.29 (03) D/[E]


Haai almal,

Re: "Blakeren":
In Afrikaans a "blaker" is a candlestick holder, and possibly related
to blak or black.

Ron, the racial term in Afrikaans _blank_ is not used anymore.
I saw today in an article in the NY Times the term "non-black" being used
and I suspect this might catch on as time goes by.

Groete,
Elsie Zinsser

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From: oostendse verhalen <verhalen at oostendseverhalen.be>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2002.10.29 (03) D/[E]

Luc Vanbranbant haalde het voorbeeld Cap-Blanc-Nez aan.
Minder vergeten is dat de oorspronkelijke Vlaamse naam voor die rotsen
"Blankenisse" is blanc = wit, nisse is neus
exact hetzelfde als Blankeniss in Hamburg

Danny drooghenbroodt
Oostende

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From: oostendse verhalen <verhalen at oostendseverhalen.be>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2002.10.28 (07) [E]

Ik vroeg me ook af of er enig verband bestaat tussen "black" en het
Nederlandse "bleek" of het oostendse "blèk"

1) In het Nederlands gebruiken we bleek om een lichte kleur aan te duiden.
bv. bleek grijs, bleek blauw, bleek groen
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2) In Oostende zeggen we ook blèk zwart als we een echt diepe zwarte kleur
bedoelen. (blèk van black of omgekeerd?)
blèk zwart = diep zwart
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3) Blèk betekent ook schreeuwerige kleur (blèk groen = opvallend groen)
D:                 Bleek groen = licht groen
Oostends:     Blèk groen = schreeuwerig groen, opvallend groen ...
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4) Blèk wordt ook gebruikt om iets blinkend of schitterend aan te duiden.
De zunne blèkt in je ogen
De deuhenieterie blèkt in je ogen (je ogen schitteren van ondeugendheid --
pretlichtjes in je ogen)

Danny drooghenbroodt
oostende

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From: Luc Hellinckx <luc.hellinckx at pandora.be>
Subject: Etymology

Beste liëglanners,


Brabantish also has the word "blak" in its vocabulary, but I only know it
from a few expressions like :

"'t lèèt dàà blak en bloeët, 't bajt bekanst in a biën", meaning "it's lying
there totally uncovered, bare and so visible that
it's almost biting your leg"...in some regions it's rather "blijk en bloot",
that is heard.

"nen blakke kater" = "een blakke kouter" (D),  "een blak veld" : said of a
vast field, where there's no physical obstruction,
where everything is in plain view...however it does not necessarily refer to
"flat", quite a number of people (mistakenly)
think it's just another way of pronouncing "vlak", which it is not..."vlak"
(D) is usually "plat" in Brabantish.

In short, "blak" (B) means : open, exposed to light. It's worth mentioning
that this word is only known in Dutch and a few
Baltic (Lithuanian "blakas" = equal and Latvian "blaks" = smooth, the
surface of the sea when there's no wind) languages. De
Vries thinks they might be inherited from a substrate language. Could this
be a relic of those pre-Indo-European languages of
the Baltic-Finnic group that we briefly discussed earlier on ?

It's only a small step to "blec" from here, an old dutch word that is used
to describe a patch of land that is almost
"drowning" *s*, up till its nose in the water, but part of it is still
glittering in the sun. This brings me to the verb
"blikken" which is used in Brabantish when a card has to be turned upside
down. She is then lying barenaked on the table, in
full view. Besides, the word "naked" is always pronounced "not" (in card
games for example : "'k ém d'n iër not" or "a was màà
pèrnot geklid", litterally signifying : he was dressed like a toad, being
scantily clad).

Regarding "Blanc Nez" and "Blankenese", I would like to quote De Vries on
nes :

"...'buitendijks land, vaak door aanslibbing gevormd, eig. landpunt'. mnl.
nesse, nes m. v. 'stuk land van een bepaalde vorm'
eig. 'landtong', mnd. nes m. 'landtong; voorgebergte' (alleen in plaatsnamen
bewaard), oe. næss m., on. nes o. < germ. *nasja,
vgl. russ. nosu 'voorgebergte'. - Zie verder : neus. Vaak voorkomend in
plaatsnamen zoals Nes, Nisse en in samenstellingen
zoals Scherpenisse, evenals ook Terneuzen.

Another Brabantish word that is related to this lot is "blaëk", "bleek" (D),
"bliëk" in Flemish, the name for a patch of grass
that is used to bleach the linen, again exposure to  light (the sun in this
case) is obvious.

However, the Dutch dictionary of Van Dale broadens the meaning of "blak"
(D), saying it could be used for any object having a
colour that "differs, contrasts with the environment"...and so not only
clear, visible, white and shining objects could be
explained, but also dark items like "black" ink on a white background or
dusk (shimmering light opposed to broad daylight)...I
agree this explanation itself sounds pretty obscure *s*.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

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