LL-L "Etymology" 2004.10.16 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 16.OCT.2004 (06) * 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: Pat Reynolds <pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2004.10.14 (16) [E]

In message <036c01c4b236$9d951db0$1c0d5f80 at dental.washington.edu>,
Lowlands-L <lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net> (i.e. Mark) writes
>> According to the _Oxford English Dictionary_, the origin of this word is
>> unknown.
>
>Tolkien must have left before they got to 'T'.
>
>Yrs,
>Mark

Homer also nods - or at least, sometimes shrugs his shoulders and says
'dunno' (or the academic equivalent).  Tolkien was there for the W days
(walrus and wampum, among other things, are his). There is a great paper
on Tolkien's contribution to the Dictionary by Peter Gilliver (of the
OED staff) in 'The Proceedings of the 1992 Tolkien Centenary Conference'
(ed. Reynolds and GoodKnight).  I also recommend 'Caught in the Web of
Words' (author and dates escaping me at the moment, as is the book
itself).

With best wishes to all,

Pat
(who is wondering exactly _how_ long ago she put the chicken in the oven
'for 20 minutes')
--
Pat Reynolds
pat at caerlas.demon.co.uk
   "It might look a bit messy now,
                    but just you come back in 500 years time"
   (T. Pratchett)

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

Folks,

I'm interested in loans that take on specific meanings (one of the original
semantic range, or a new one) in the recipient language where the original
meaning in the donor language is not understood by all.  I would like to
limit this to closely related languages, preferably at least one of them
Lowlandic.  I will give you one example below, and I wonder if you can come
up with similar examples.

In many North German dialects -- most of which drew much from Missingsch
(German dialects with Lowlands Saxon [Low German] substrates) and thus
indirectly from Lowlands Saxon -- the name for a ribbon tied in a large bow
on top of the head (usually worn by young girls, these days still in many
East European countries) is known as a _Butterlecker_, which to German
speakers sounds like "butter licker."  Most people would not wonder about
its origin, just accept it as a quaint name.  It is only those that know
Lowlands Saxon fairly well and have been exposed to the relevant dialects
that understand that this means 'butterfly' in the donor language
(_botter-lekker_ ~ _butter-licker_) and in extension denotes this type of
bow.  (The bow looks like a butterfly.)

So, the North German version is a literal calque (i.e., a loan literally
translated), and most people are not aware that it originally meant what in
German is _Schmetterling_ 'butterfly'.

Can you think of similar cases?

Thanks and regards,
Reinhard/Ron

P.S.:  In other Lowlands Saxon dialects you will find the word
_sommer-vagel_ ~ _summer-vagel_ ("summer bird") for 'butterfly', but, as far
as I am aware, this word does *not* denote that type of bow.

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