LL-L "Etymology" 2003.04.04 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: luc.hellinckx at pandora.be <luc.hellinckx at pandora.be>
Subject: Etymology

Beste liëglanners,

Some time ago there was this post where somebody wrote that the Cornish word
for a jackdaw is _choca_. That's interesting ! Because in the Swiss Alps
(Valais) a certain kind of crow that can be found high up in the mountains
is also called a _chouca_. Coincidence ???

Luc Hellinckx

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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Hi all

Ron and William were talking about...

> a nickname vs. middle English an eekname

Ah!  But again, where did the /n/ come from, from
"name"?

"Eekname" is interesting: "added name", "eek" being
related to Frisian
_ek_,
Dutch/Afrikaans _ook_ and Lowlands Saxon (Low German)
_ook_ (German
_auch_)
'also', 'as well'.  Also interestingly, LS has
_Ã-kelnaam_
[?Å"Ik=lnQ:m] for
'nickname'!

it gets the 'n' cos it was always said in combination with 'an'

so
'an eekname' > 'a nickname'
'an ewt' > 'a newt'
'a napron' > 'an apron' (compare napkin)

and quite possibly French
'une naranja' > 'une orange'

Happens in Scandinavian too
'på' and 'ni' in Swedish are both reanalyses 'upp å' >
'upp på' and earlier 'i' changed to 'ni' cos the 2nd
person plural verb endings was put onto the pronoun.

Can't think of any other examples in English or any of
the lowland languages - seem to remember the old
'tegen' 'gegen' difference had something similar going
on...

Gary

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

Thanks a bunch for making my penny drop, Gary!  (Duh!)

> Can't think of any other examples in English or any of
> the lowland languages -

I can think of two (or one and a half) in Lowlands Saxon (Low German):

(1 = half)
_smorns_ ~ _smorrns_ [smo.3`ns] '(regularly) in the morning', from older _'s
morgens_ < _des Morgens_, genitive.  (This genitive is defunct in most
contemporary dialects, _des_ in all of them.)

(2)
_Maars_ ~ _Mors_ ~ _Moors_ [mQ:3`s] ~ [mo:3`s] 'ass', 'arse', 'behind',*
'hiny', 'derriere', etc.  _Aars_ ~ _Ors_ ~ _Oors_ [?Q:3`s] ~ [?o:3`s] also
exists with the same meaning, possibly two freely interchangeable parellel
versions (e.g., _Maars_ ~ _Aars_, _Moorse_ ~ _Oors_) in the same dialect.
My theory is that the _M..._ versions come from (_an dem Aars_ >) _am Aars_
"on the ..." (_dem_ and _am_ being archaic dative), perhaps from frequent
usage of "genteel" phrases like _Kriggst glieks een an'n/up'n  (M)Aars_
("You'll get one (= a slap/kick) on/in the ... in a second!") and _Lick mi
an'n (M)Aars!_ ("Lick me on the ...!" = 'Kiss my ...!", Yiddish _kiš mayn
tokhes!_).  Any alternative etymology, anyone?

* While we are on this lovely topic, I noticed that many Americans put the
stress on the first syllable of "behind" in this particular sense.  I wonder
if it is to distinguish it from the "real" "behind" or if the nominalized
form is simply reanalyzed and Germanic noun stress is assigned -- or both?

On this lovely note, have a nice weekend, everyone!

Reinhard/Ron

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