LL-L "Phonology" 2005.05.23 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 23.MAY.2005 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
http://www.lowlands-l.net * lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Rules & Guidelines: http://www.lowlands-l.net/index.php?page=rules
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands-l at lowlands-l.net
Commands ("signoff lowlands-l" etc.): listserv at listserv.net
Server Manual: http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html
Archives: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-8) [Please switch your view mode to it.]
=======================================================================
You have received this because you have been subscribed upon request.
To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l" as message
text from the same account to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or
sign off at http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================
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)
=======================================================================

From: Dave Singleton <davidsin at pt.lu>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.05.22 (01) [E]

This is a fascinating compendium word ! it conjures all sorts of
cross-lingual ideas as one reads the lists of base word and where they
come from.

 >>From: Arthur Jones <arthurobin2002 at yahoo.com>
 >Subject: ETYMOLOGY 2005.21.05 (01) [E]
 >
 >Dear Lowlanders,
 >
 >Sandy wrote,
 >"yerne, gierne, cf. LS geyrn, D geern" ---

 >Thanks for linking them up, Sandy! This is one of my favourite
chapters of
 >etymology. Twenty years ago, a Welsh folk singing group, "Ar Log",
 >recorded
 >(and played in concert) a well-known ballad called "hyraeth", which in
 >Welsh is a special term for homesickness, yearning, aching for
homeland, the
 >melancholy of diaspora, etc.
 >Jo Thijs wrote:
 > >"yerne, gierne, cf. LS geyrn, D geern" ---

 > Thus, I really believe that we have here a root that may reach back to
 > Proto-Indo-European.

 >Van Dale mentions lat. _horiari_ (later hortari) and greek _chairein_,
 >(lemma 'begeren').
 >From the same base derived are (according van Dale) Mdld. grettich
 >(vertoornd), gretten (irriteren) Mdlhg. graz (woede), grazen (schreeuwen,
 >aanmatigend handelen), propably connected with Ohg. gratag, Oe groedig
 >(begerig) got. gredags (hongerig).

Gabriele asks if it could be connected to grief/grämen and I would like
to ask if it could be connected to the expression "Green with envy", ---
our early scribes were quite dyslexic at times.

Dvae Singleton  (sic)

----------

From: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.05.22 (05) [E/LS]

Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET
>There is an American word batty = "moderately crazy, very strange"
probably related to the word dumbat (Spelling?) who is somebody who is
pleasantly dumb.<

1. OED has batty stemming from " to have bats in your belfry" i.e. be mad ,
stupid, eccentric

2. grin;  draw back lips and show teeth, in pain or anger or in a smile.
 QE grennian   related to OHG grennan  mutter    MHG  grennen   wail, grin
and OHG granon    grunt   ON grenja  Howl  OSw grania    roar , gnash the
teeth

from germ  *gran -  There is a remarkable similarity in form and sense with
a number of Germ. words repr. the gradation-series *grain- , *grin-   to
which graon belongs

3. yearn: to have a strong desire   OE giernan = OS gernean, girnean, ON
girna, Goth  gairnjan :- germ (not in HG) *gernjan, from *gernaz  rep. by
OE georn  eager  OS & OHG gern ( G gern willingly)  ON gjarn, Goth seina/
gairns ( selfish), from *ger repr. also by OHG geron ( G begehren) ON gerr
 greedy with probable cognates in Sanskrit and Avestan i.a. Latin horiri,
hortar  see exhort.

Heather

PS Will send Partridge's account later: sorry no time now. Different in
parts!

----------

From: Kevin Caldwell <kcaldwell31 at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.05.22 (05) [E/LS]

> From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
> Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.05.22 (03) [LS]
>
> Reply to Jonny's
>
> weyt Ji, wat eyn _Doysbaddel_, _Döösbaddel_ is? Or 'n _Dummbatz_?
>
> There is an American word batty = "moderately crazy, very strange"
> probably related to the word dumbat (Spelling?) who is somebody who is
> pleasantly dumb.

Yes, "batty" and "bats" are slang words for "crazy".  I think they actually
refer to the flying mammals known as bats (as in "crazy as a bat", referring
to their somewhat erratic flying patterns?).  The other word you mention
should probably be "dingbat" (or maybe "dumbbell").  The original meaning of
"dingbat" is a small object, such as a stick or a stone, suitable for
throwing at another object (cf. "brickbat", a piece of brick used as a
missile).  A dingbat is also a typographical ornament.  There is a computer
font called "Dingbats", which has all kinds of odd symbols.

Kevin Caldwell

----------

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

According to the _Oxford English Dictionary_, "to grin" comes from Old
English _grennian_, which seems to go back to an older form denoting "to
howl."  Somewhere along the way it took on the meaning "to gnash one's
teeth" as well.  German has _grinsen_, Low Saxon _grynen_ (<grienen>), Dutch
_grijnen_ for "to grin."  I suspect it originally denoted an animal's face
while staring (cf. Icelandic _grína_) or howling, then probably a demon's
(with a possible link with Old Norse and Old English _gríma_ 'mask', cf.
_grimace_ < French _grimace_).  "To grin" also seems to be related to
various words for "to cry."  So I assume that the original, underlying idea
is *"to destort one's face."

The German word _Gram_ [gra:m] 'sorrow', 'regret' and the derived (mostly
reflexive) verb _(sich) grämen_ seem to be related to the group represented
by English "grim."

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

==============================END===================================
Please submit postings to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
Postings will be displayed unedited in digest form.
Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l")
are  to be sent to listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or at
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
=======================================================================