LL-L "Lexicon" 2004.07.04 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 04.JUL.2004 (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) 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: Lexicon

Dear Lowlanders,

Here's another question about lexical inventory in Lowlands languages.

I am more concerned about actual, native, original, normal usage than about
availability of lesser-used expressions and neologisms.

I have noticed that (again, in ordinary speech) both Lowlands Saxon (Low
German) and Scots tend to use the same word for "hill" and "mountain":

Lowlands Saxon: _barg_ <Barg> [ba:x]
Scots: _hill_ ~ _hull_

German and English, on the other hand, clearly distinguish between _Hügel_
and _Berg_ and between "hill" and "mountain" respectively.

Yiddish may represent an intermediate type, using _barg_ בארג (in some
dialects _berg_ בערג) for 'mountain' and its diminutive form _bergl_ בערגל
for 'hill'.

Now, in Lowlands Saxon you can use _bült_ <Bült> [bY.lt] or _knül_ <Knüll>
[knY.l] for 'hill', but I feel that these rather denote very small hills,
"glorified bumps," "knolls" in fact.  The normal word for both "hill" and
"mountain" is _barg_.

Similarly, you have available the Romance-derived word _muntain_ for
'mountain' in Scots, besides Celtic-derived _ben_ for very tall peaks of the
Scottish highlands.  But from my reading I take it that in normal Scots
_hill_ ~ _hull_ applies to 'mountain' as well.

Note also that in English "hill" is of native origin while "mountain" is a
Romance loan.

I believe that the numerous Frisian varieties of the Netherlands and Germany
have similar lack of distinction.

I keep wondering if this apparent (original?) lack of distinction is because
in the Lowlands you don't get anything that is taller than what we call a
"hill."  Real "mountains" are outside the original language region.
Newcomers to Hamburg, Germany, find it rather strange to find a range of
hills south of the southern branch of River Elbe referred to as _Harborger
Bargen_ (LS) and _Harburger Berge_ (G).  To people of the area they seem
like mountains (at least in the olden days), and they even try to ski on
them if there is snow in the winter.  The closest real mountains are the
Harz Mountains, that lie on the southern edge of the language area.

I wonder if there are similar situations in other Lowlands language
varieties, especially in the varieties of the Netherlands, Belgium and
Northern France.  I am less interested in reference to "real" ("exotic")
mountains outside that area.  I also wonder if those varieties "act"
differently from Afrikaans, given that Afrikaans-speaking areas (i.e.,
Southern Africa) do indeed have both hills (_heuwels_, _bulte_, _koppies_,
_rantjies_) and mountains (_berge_, _koppe_), besides knolls (_bulties_,
_heuwelties_).

Thanks for thinking about it!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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