LL-L "Etymology" 2003.01.22 (11) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 22.JAN.2003 (11) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 http://www.lowlands-l.net  * admin at lowlands-l.net * Encoding: Unicode UTF-8
 Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/rules.htm
 Posting Address: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org
 Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
 Archive: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
=======================================================================
 You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
 To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
 text from the same account to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or
 sign off at <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================
 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)
=======================================================================

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

As for Scots _hedge_ vs. _heck_, the plot thickens, following further
consultation.

Lowlands Saxon (Low German) _Heck_ and Dutch _hek_ ‘board at the rear’,
etc., can also denote a “hatch,” and both English _hatch_ and Scots _heck_
are related to these, derived from Old English _hæcc_ (< Germanic *_hak-_).
Apparently, one of the oldest meanings is something like ‘aperture/door in a
fence’.  (_Heck_ ‘stern of a boat’ entered German from nautical Lowlands
Saxon as late as in the 18th century.)

As Holger suspected, the transitive German verb _aushecken_ ‘to hatch (a
scheme/plot)” appears to be related to this group, as is English “to hatch”
(< Old English _hæccan_?), Danish _hække_, Swedish _häcka_.

The _Herkunftsduden_ and the _Oxford Dictionary_ confirm that _Heck_ (German
_Hecke_) ‘hedge’ is related to _Haag_ ~ _Hagen_ (German _Hag_ and _Hain_),
to English “haw” in its earlier sense of “enclosure” (> “farmstead”), thus
to Old Saxon _hago_ ‘pasture’, and outside Germanic to Gaulish _caio-_, Old
Welsh _cae_ ‘enclosure’ and Middle Breton _kae_ ‘thorny hedge’ <
Proto-Celtic *_kagio-_ (> Old French _kay_ > English “quay”, Dutch _kaai_ ~
_kade_ (~ _kaie_ ~ _kaje_?), Lowlands Saxon _Kaje_ ~ _Kai_ > German _Kai_).
It is all supposed to go back to Indo-European *_kagh-_ (nominally) ‘woven
fencing’ and (verbally) ‘enclose with woven fencing’.

Also related to this latter group is German _Hexe_ ‘witch’ (Pennsylvania
German _hex_ > English “hex”) and _hexen_ ‘to perform witchcraft’, thus also
Lowlands Saxon _Hex(e)_ and _hexen_, Old German _hagzissa_ (> Middle German
_hecse_ ~ _hesse_), Middle Dutch _haghetisse_, Old English _hægtes(se)_ (>
shortened to modern derogatory _hag_ ‘old woman’).  (For the second part in
the old words cf. Norwegian _tysja_ ‘fairy’. Also consider Old Icelandic
_tūnriða_ [“fence-rider" ‘witch’.)

I wonder if the following Lowlands Saxon word for ‘magpie’ is also related
to this group or is derived from an onomatopoetically based verb (with the
suffix _-ster_ as in English “spin” > “spinster”, “bake” > “Baxter”, “weave”
> “Webster”): _Heckster_ ~ _Heester_ ~ _Heister_, also _Eekheckster_
(“oak-_Heckster_” >) _Eekster_; cf. Dutch _eekster_.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

==================================END===================================
* Please submit postings to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
* Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
* Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
* Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
  to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
  <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
=======================================================================