LL-L "Etymology" 2005.10.13 (01) [E/LS/German]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 13 October 2005 * Volume 01
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From: "Franz Firla" <frafir at web.de>
To: "Hahn, R.F." <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: wiem

Hallo Ron, ich habe hier eine Liedversion aus Salzwedel:


 Martens, Martens vögelken

met dien vergülden flögelken,

fleeg so wiet bet öber 'n wiem,

morgen is dat Martin,

---

Ich hätte gerne gewußt, was "wiem" bedeutet.

Danke!


Mit freundlichen Grüßen

Franz Firla

----------

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

--- Franz Firla <frafir at web.de> wrote:

> Hallo Ron, ich habe hier eine Liedversion aus Salzwedel:
>
>  Martens, Martens vögelken
>
> met dien vergülden flögelken,
>
> fleeg so wiet bet öber 'n wiem,
>
> morgen is dat Martin,
>
> ---
>
> Ich hätte gerne gewußt, was "wiem" bedeutet.
>
> Danke!
>
> Mit freundlichen Grüßen
>
> Franz Firla

Lieber Franz,

Da es sich hierbei um eine für die gesamte "Mannschaft" interessante Frage
handelt, beantworte ich sie auf der Liste, und ich nehme an, es ist
genehm.

Folks, our Franz has located another version of the Martinmas song
tradition he has been researching, this one a Low Saxon song from
Soltwedel/Salzwedel, a town in the region of _Ollmark_/_Altmark_ ("Old
Mercia"), situated at the northern tip of today's state of
_Sassen-Anhold_/_Sachsen-Anhalt_ (Saxony-Anhalt), just east of the former
Iron Curtain.  This region is one of those known as "ancient cultural
landscapes" (much like the Uckermark to its east, Münsterland in
Westphalia, Eastern Friesland and Emsland east of Groningen, and Drenthe
in the Eastern Netherlands.  _Ollmark_/_Altmark_ is widely regarded as
being the cradle of Brandenburg, and its preservation of traditional
language and culture makes it a great resource for research.  Although,
geographically speaking, the local dialect would be classified as
Northeastern Low Saxon, I would go as far as considering it transitional
between the Northwestern and Northeastern dialect groups -- being located
just a short distance east of Uelzen and an even shorter distance south
from Lüchow, both in Lower Saxony.

Franz asks what the word _Wiem_ means, and here is my response, which I
want to share with all of you, in part because I wonder if you can help me
with its etymology.

In Low Saxon, _wym_ (<Wiem> [vi:m]) and (original) _wymen_ (<Wiemen>
["vi:m=m] ~ [vi:m:]) seems to have originally meant something like
'(wooden) scaffold(ing)' (German _(Hols-)Gerüst_).  It preserves this
broader meaning in some dialects, while in other dialects it means
'roost', specifically 'roosting rod(s) for chickens' (German
_Hühnerstange(n)_).  It can denote a single rod (~ pole ~ bar) or an
entire structure consisting of such.  Some dialects specify
_hoyner-wym(en)_ (<Höhnerwiem(en)> ~ <Heuhnerwiem(en)> "chicken-roost"),
even some of those that do not use _wym(en)_ by itself (any longer).

To make this word even more interesting, it is in some dialects used to
mean 'loft' (German _Boden_, _Hochbett_), sometimes equivalent to _boen_
(<Böön> ~ <Böhn>) and _bön_ (<Bönn>), which can also mean 'attic'. 
This is perhaps because in many traditions chickens' roosts used to be
built elevated, in may cases as second stories of barns or stables, to
suit the birds' and their owners' security needs.  From this extended
meaning it progressed to denoting any sort of elevated wooden structure
inside a building (or was that the *original* meaning?).  This is clearly
found in _orgel-wym(en)_ (<Orgelwiem(en)>) 'organ loft' (German
_Orgelbühne_, _Orgelempore_), in which case _orgel-_ can be left out if
the context is clear.  (I believe that this can now denote *any* sort of
organ loft, including one that is not made from wood.)

I am very mystified and curious about the origin of this _wym(en)_.  So
far I have found nothing that looks like being related in older language
varieties.  Are there any cognates in other Lowlands language varieties? 
(I would expect *_wijm_ in Dutch, *_wym_ in Afrikaans.)  Might the word
originate in a contraction, such as *_wîr-m_ (Old Saxon _wîr_ 'rod',
related to English "wire," cf. Modern Low Saxon _wy(e)r_ (<Wier> [vi:3`])
'wire' (~ _draat_ <Draat> ~ <Draht> ~ <Droht>)?

Thanks and regards from sunny California!
Reinhard/Ron

P.S.: My translation of the verse:

Martens, Martens vögelken
Martin's, Martin's little bird

met dien vergülden flögelken,
with your gilded little wings,

fleeg so wiet bet öber 'n wiem,
fly off far across (~ beyond) the roost!

morgen is dat Martin,
Tomorrow will be Martinmas.

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