LL-L "Etymology" 2005.10.09 (04) [E/LS]

[Lowlands-L]

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   L O W L A N D S - L * 09 October 2005 * Volume 04
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From: Kevin and Cheryl Caldwell <kevin.caldwell1963 at verizon.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.10.08 (03) [D/E]

> From: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
> Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2005.10.07 (11) [E]
>
> Message text written by INTERNET:lowlands-l at LOWLANDS-L.NET
> >(a "binky" in English baby talk<
>
> More usually known as a 'dummy'.
>
> I have never come across 'binky'. Sounds like a family word to me -
> invented by children and taken up by adults because they're kind of cute.

I know "Binky" is a brand name for pacifiers sold in the US. I don't know 
which came first, though - the word or the brand name. I remember we called 
my little brother's pacifier his binky because that was the brand name 
stamped on it.

Kevin Caldwell

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

Interesting, Kevin!  I didn't know that.

Folks,

Today, under "Language varieties," I translated a Middle Saxon ("Middle Low 
German") poem (from _The New Fools Ship_, Rostock, 1590?).  The title of it 
is:

   VAN BOLEREN : FROUWE VENUS

I translated it into Modern Low Saxon as:

   VUN 'T FREEN : FRO VENUS
   VUN 'T VREYEN : VROU VENUS

and into English as:

   ABOUT COURTSHIP : MISTRESS VENUS

Now I'm not so sure if _Freen_ (_vreyen_) and "courtship" really capture it. 
_Boleren_ (actually _bôleren_) is based on _bôle_ (cf. Dutch _boel(e)_ and 
German _Buhle_) meaning 'lover' (now very archaic in Dutch and German).  (It 
is said to be based on child babble for 'close relative'!, and German 
borrowed it from Middle Saxon.)

_Vreyen_ used to mean 'to court' (German _freien_, _den Hof machen_), but 
nowadays its meaning has shifted to 'to wed', 'to marry'.  _Bôleren_, 
however, did not necessarily imply serious intention, implied more of what 
is now called "dating" and "sleeping around."

Might I call it "dalliance" in English?  Any other suggestion?

I'm wondering if in Low Saxon I should translate it is _Hummelee_ 
(_hummeley_).  This is a "cute" noun.  It is based on _Hummel_ 'bumblebee' 
and the derived verb _hummeln_ 'to bumble-bee from flower to flower' ... You 
catch my drift.  However, these days it can also be used in the sense of 
'flirtatious behavior'.  This is how I used it in my Low Saxon translation 
of Robert Burns' Scots masterpiece ballad (actually apparently his only 
ballad) _Tam O'Shanter_ (which will be published side by side with the 
original in next year's _Binneboom_):

...
The night drave on wi’ sangs and clatter;
And ay the ale was growing better:
The landlady and Tam grew gracious
Wi’ favours, secret, sweet and precious:
...
...
De Nacht verlööp mit Singen un Brüllen.
Dat Beer wöör leckerer, bäter dat Püllen.
Twüschen de Krögersch un us Tam, de twee,
Geev ’t heemlich Pläseer un Hummelee.
...
(Here's a sneak preview for my Lowlands friends: 
http://www.sassisch.net/shanter.htm, with English vocabulary reveal upon 
placing the cursor onto any difficult Scots word, and German and English 
vocabulary reveal upon placing the cursor onto any word.)

And for those of you who read beyond this piece of shameless self-promotion 
here's an etymological bonus, reinterpreted from the _Herkunftsduden_ about 
the German  word _bugsieren_ 'to tow (a ship)' > 'to compliment (someone) 
somewhere (like out of the house)'.

In the 17th century it was _buxiren_ or _büxiren_.  It is said to be derived 
from Dutch, but I have a feeling that it went into German via Low Saxon 
_bugseren_.  The Dutch word, now _boegseren_, like the Low Saxon and German 
equivalents, tends to be assumed related to _Bug_, _boeg_, etc., 'bow (of a 
ship)', but it is not at all related to it.  The older Dutch words are 
_boesjaren_ and _boechseerden_, and these are said to be derived from 
Portuguese _puxar_ [pU"Sar] 'to drag', 'to pull', 'haul'.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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