LL-L "Etymology" 2004.10.14 (03) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 14.OCT.2004 (03) * 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


Under "Lexicon," Liesbeth inquired about the Scots word _teuchter_, and Tom
Maguire, Andy Eagle and Tom McRae explained that it is a disparaging term,
denoting an uncouth person, often specifically a Gaelic-speaking Highlander.

Tom McRae has also mentioned one etymological theory of the word _teuchter_
being onomatopoetic in origin, either imitating their Gaelic speech or the
sound their heavy boots made on cobblestones.

I will attempt to get the ball rolling on an etymology of this word, hoping
that others will help.

According to the _Oxford English Dictionary_, the origin of this word is
unknown.  I will attempt to get the ball rolling on proposing an etymology,
hoping that others will help.  It is merely speculative at this juncture.

Mostly on the basis the _Concise Scots Dictionary_ and MacBain’s
_Etymological Celtic Dictionary_, I am proposing for discussion that
_teuchter_ (['tjuxtǝr] ~ ['tʃuxtǝr]) is ultimately derived from the
adjective _teuch_ ([tjux] ~ ['tʃux]) meaning 'tough', 'vigorous',
'persistent', 'durable', and also 'rough', the latter both of weather and of
persons.  A _teuch_ person is not only 'tough' but can also be 'coarse',
'rough', 'unsophisticated', 'country', and the like.  I understand that this
word is a cognate of English "tough," thus is derived from Old English _tóh_
(*[to:x]), related to North Frisian _toch_ ~ _tuch_, Old Saxon _tâhi_ (>
Middle Saxon _tâ_ ~ _tei_ > Modern Saxon/Low German _tage_ ~ _taag'_ ~ _ta_
~ _tau_), Dutch _taai_ and Old German _zâhi_ (> Middle German _zâhe_ ~
_zæhe_ ~ _zæch_ > Modern German _zähe_ ~ zäh_), all with the basic meaning
'tough'.

One might be tempted to take the _-t-_ in "tought," a dialectal variant of
"tough," as an explanation for the _-t-_ in _teuchter_.  However, it seems
to me that this would not be tenable, unless Scots (at some time) allowed
derivation of this sort from adjectives, which I doubt.  So, if _teuchter_
is indeed related to _teuch_ you would assume that either there used to be a
verb *_teucht_ or that _teuchter_ was made up by analogy with such a verb
imagined.  I find that the semantic relationship between _teuch_ and
_teuchter_ is just too striking to ignore.

I have also considered derivation or influence from Scottish Gaelic,
especially derivation from Gaelic _tuathanach_ ['tʰuǝ(hǝ)nǝx] 'farmer',
'peasant', 'rustic' (< _tuath_ ['tʰuǝh] 'farming (folk)' > _ tuathanachas_
‘farming’) and at the same time _tuath_ ['tʰuǝh] 'north', 'northern'.

Semantically, _tuath_ in the sense of 'peasant' goes back to meaning
'(common) people', for instance Old Irish _túath_ (< *_toutâ_).  (It is
ultimately related to Germanic _þeod_ 'people' and such, on which German
_deutsch_ and its relatives are based, related to Romance (*_tout-_ >)
_tōt-_ 'all', 'entire' (e.g., French _tout_, Spanish _todo_, Italian
_tuuto_), and Old
Prussian (Baltic) _tauto_ (cf. Latvian and Lithuanian _tauta_) 'people'.

_Tuath_ in the sense of 'north(ern)' goes back to Old Irish _túath_ (< *_
toutâ_) 'left', 'north', 'good', related to Gothic _þiuþ_ 'good'.

I wonder if the two above ultimately came from the same source.

Furthermore, I wonder if the Celtic words directly or indirectly contributed
to the creation of _teuchter_ on the basis of Germanic _teuch_, if the two
came together, reinforced each other.

I look forward to hearing from you on this.


On another note, under "Lexicon" I wrote about German _Kauz_ 'tawny owl'
being used to denote a strange person.  I wonder if it is related to English
"coot" (< Middle English _côte_) and Dutch _koet_ (< _coete_ <  _côte_), a
sea bird of the auk family that is also known as "murre," "guillemot" or
"foolish guillemot" (_Uria troile_: Danish _langnæbbet teiste _, Norwegian
_polarlomvi_, Swedish _lomvi_, German _Trottellumme_, Icelandic
_svarta-hríð_, Spanish _kaira_, Russian _арба_ ~ _ара_ ~ _ару_ ~ _арун_).
Remember English expressions like "You old coot!"  Sure, owls and sea birds
are not closely related, but phonologically *_kuut_ > German _Kauz_
(/kauts/) makes total sense.  I wonder if this name originally just denoted
a clumsy, awkward, funny, weird bird, considering also the Dutch specificion
of 'sea' in _zeekoet_ (_Uria aalge_: English _(common) guillemot_, Inuktitut
_pitsiulaaq_, Icelandic _langvía_, Danish _lomvie_, Norwegian _lomvi_,
Swedish _sillgrissla_, Estonian _etelänkiisla_, Finnish _etelänkiisla_,
Hungarian _vékonycsoru lumma_, French _guillemot de troïl_, German
_Trottellumme_, Italian _Uria_, Norwegian _Lomvi_, Spanish _Arao común_,
Catalan _somorgollaire_).

By the way, _alk_ > _auk_, another case of the changing "l".

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron


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