LL-L "Etymology" 2004.01.17 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 17.JAN.2004 (02) * 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) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

I wrote:

> I found the Old Saxon word for the assumedly same thing: _halsfano_.
> (_Hals_ is 'neck', and _fano_ 'rag', 'cloth' is a cognate of modern
_vaan_,
> German _Fahne_, 'flag'.)

I should have translated the latter more accurately as 'banner', since
'flag' would be _vlag(ge)_ and _Flagge_ respectively.

As for this _vaan_/_Fahne_, and also Dutch _vaan_, since no one else has
done the "honors," I will do so.

This Old Saxon _fano_ appears to correspond to Old English _fana_ (as well
as Old German _fano_, Old Norse _fani_ and Gothic _fana_, from Old Germanic
*_fanon_).  Its Modern English survival is "vane," nowadays mostly appearing
in "weathervane," which apparently began as a piece of cloth.

Why Modern English "vane" instead of expected *"fane"?  My hypothesis is
that at one point in time the word only occurred as the second part of noun
compounds and later came to be "reconstructed" as an independent word.  In
Old English, what is written <f> is pronounced [v] when it appears between
two vowels (and also between a sonorant and a vowel, I believe).

Furthermore, I hypothesize that the original meaning of Germanic *_fanon_
was 'long piece of cloth'.  This goes nicely not only with the meaning
'banner' and Old Saxon _halsfano_ 'neckscarf', but also with Modern English
_vane_ having another meaning: 'blade (of a windmill)' (originally a long
piece of cloth in a frame, in which form it survives in Spain and other
South European countries).  Furthermore, there is Scots _vane_, _veyne_,
_vein_, etc., 'stripe of a different color on a garment', 'long ornamental
piece of different-color fabric on a garment'.  (Do you have similar things
in Northumbrian, Glenn?)  Or was _vane_ "reinstated" in Middle English as a
loanword from Flemish (brought in with Flemish weaver immigrants), natively
written <vane> and accordingly "mispronounced" in English?

What also comes to mind is the occasional use of _Fahne_ in German (usually
_alte Fahne_ with "old") to denote what in English is _old rag_ and in
Yiddish is _(alte) shmate_ ("(old) rag") in reference to an old or inferior
(women's) dress.  I had always wondered about that German expression.  Now I
realize that it comes from the old meaning "(long) piece of cloth (= rag)"
rather than from the meaning "banner."

Any comments?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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