LL-L "Names" 2005.09.24 (05) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

======================================================================
L O W L A N D S - L * 24.SEP.2005 (05) * 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: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Names" 2005.09.23 (01) [E]

>Also in West Frisian a  place like Winsum is pronounced [we:~s at m]<

Is this the same as the river Wensum in Norfolk?

Heather

----------

From: heather rendall <HeatherRendall at compuserve.com>
Subject: LL-L "Names" 2005.09.23 (01) [E]

>
Well, I can't defend either theory, but this Bethlehem things sounds a bit
folksy now, doesn't it?  Again, I assume that Bodle Lum is an attested
older
name.<

The Bethlehem Hospital in London housed the insane, the mentally deficient
and anyone a family wanted to be rid of.
It was a tourist's treat in 18th century London to take the tour through
the building to gawp at the unfortunates.

The noise, smell and activity was so chaotic that the shortened version of
the name 'Bedlam' came to mean noisy chaos.

Normal family living with a couple of teenagers and toddlers in the same
house is fairly described as Bedlam!!!

Heather

----------

From: Paul Tatum <ptatum at blueyonder.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Names" 2005.09.23

> > Examples of Northeastern England:
>
> > Acomb (< Akum 'oaks')
> > Aireyholme (< Erghum 'at the shielings')
> > Bedlam (< Bodle Lum 'at the buildings')
> > Bolam (< Bolum 'planks')
> > Coatham (< Cotum 'at the cottages')
> > Moorseholm (< Mooresum 'moor houses'; cf. NF Morsum!)
> > Yarum ('fish pools')
>
> > Regards,
> > Reinhard/Ron

Hello all, this is my first posting, so I'm probably doing everything
wrong....

without looking at a reference book, so correct me if i'm mistaken:
-ham is usually derived from 'home' (like: hamlet?)
-comb is often British (Welsh) cwm 'valley'
-holm is ONorse 'island' 'low-lying land'

(and Pendle Hill means 'hill hill hill'!)

Paul Tatum

----------

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

Hello, Paul, and welcome to the speakers' corner!  You did everything 
perfectly and may consider yourself an old hand now.

As for those names and their supposed meanings, I can't vouch for them but 
understand the idea to be that the modern spelling in these particular cases 
are based on folk etymological reinterpretations, that the older written 
forms reveal different origins.  For instance, old _Akum_ (oaks) lost its 
etymological transparency (because the plural suffix _-um_ had disappeared 
from English), and a new, false etymology and thus the new spelling <Acomb> 
came to be attributed to it by way of analogy with frequently occurring 
names ending in _-comb_ (< Welsh _cwm_).  After all, this Acomb is situated 
in northeastern England, a fair way away from Wales.  In the case of Coatham 
this old _-um_ came to be reinterpreted as _-ham_ by analogy of frequent 
occurrence of _-ham_ in place names, though the origin is supposed to be 
_Cotum_ (cottages [cots]).

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.
=======================================================================