LL-L "Etymology" 2004.03.16 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 16.MAR.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: Thomas <t.mcrae at uq.net.au>
Subject: Lexicon Query

Our ABC Classical station features a Word of the Day each morning.
Yesterday the word was 'clarting' which the expert said the OED explained as
'smearing with dirt' among other things. It also claimed the word was
obsolete and probably of Scots origin.
It may be obsolete in English but it was still widely used in Midlothian in
my day. As a noun ''e wiz a richt clart' (He was very dirty) and as an
adjective "Wee Wullie fell in the poand an goat clarty". This caused me to
recall another Scots word "manky" which describes even fouler people and
things.
Can anyone tell me if those words are of Flemish or other non Scots origin ?
Regards
Tom
Tom Mc Rae PSOC
Brisbane Australia
"The masonnis suld mak housis stark and rude,
To keep the pepill frome the stormes strang,
And he that fals, the craft it gois all wrang."
>>From 15th century Scots Poem 'The Buke of the Chess'

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

Hi, Thomas!

I wonder if _clart_ and _clarty_ are related to two Lowlands Saxon (Low
German) words:

(1) _klarren_ (/klar-/) 'to dig or wallow in dirt', 'to perform dirty work'
     (Notes: (1) LS /t/ and /d/ frequently alternate, especially following
     a consonsonant; (2) the sequence /rd/ is likely to change to <rr>,
     (3) intervocalic /-d-/ often changes to <ll> or <rr>; (4) there is
     another _klarren_ meaning 'to scrape', but I assume it is a separate
     lexeme)

(2) _klat_ <Klatt>) ~ _klatte_ (<Kladde> ~ <Klatte>) 'spot (of dirt)',
      'blob (of a smeery, sticky substance)
     (Notes: (1) /rd/ and /rt/ frequently change to <dd> or <tt>; e.g.
     _swart_ > _swat_ 'black'; (2) there is another _klad_ meaning
     'shred', 'scrap', 'rough draft', assumedly a separate word,
     _Kladde_ in the sense of 'rough draft' having entered
     German)

(3) _klatterig_ (<kladderig> ~ <klatterig>) 'sticky', 'matted', 'wet
     throughout', 'dirty (all over)' (see Note 2.1 above)

Final note on this: Since LS does not aspirate non-initial plosives, /-t-/
has in many dialects changed to /-d-/.

So, what I am suggesting is that the above are derived from *_klart-_.

Lowlanders, I have a couple of etymological questions of my own.

In Scots there are the words _tae loup_ (~ _tae lowp_) 'to run' and _tae
coup_ (~ _tae cowp_) to buy'.  Of course, approaching these from a Lowlands
angle, Dutch /loop-/ _lopen_ 'to run' and /koop-/ _kopen_ 'to buy' spring to
mind (as do their variants, e.g. LS _loupen_ ~ _löypen_ and _koupen_ ~
_köypen_).

"To loup" also exists in English, though apparently falling into
obsolescence in many dialects.  _To coup_ was also known in Middle English,
apparently also later in some northern dialects.

English and Scots dictionaries connect these with Old Norse _hlaupa_ and
_kaupa_ respectively, although they do not actually seem to say that these
English and Scots words are Viking loans.  Could these perhaps be "Flemish"
loans?  ("Flemish" was used more liberally in early times, may have included
most of what is now officially "Dutch.")  I am particularly wondering in the
case of _tae coup_, since it seems to turn up relatively late, namely in
Middle English and Old Scots.  Furthermore, these words have their own
native cognates: English 'to leap' and Scots _tae leap_ from Old English
_hléapan_ (cf. Old Frisian _(h)lâpa_ ~ _hliapa_, Old Saxon _(a-)hlôpan_,
Middle Dutch _lôpen_), and English _cheap_ and Scots _cheap_, cf. Old
English _céapian_ 'to bargain', 'to barter', 'to buy', _cíepan_ ~ _cípan_ ~
_cýpan_ 'to sell' (cf. Old Saxon _côpôn_, _côpian_, Middle Dutch _côpen_).

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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