LL-L 'Etymology' 2006.10.05 (08) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 05 October 2006 * Volume 08
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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Etymology

Heather,

You wrote:

> In Ortwin's The Open Fields a study of the ridge & furrow lands of
> Laxton, Notts the word has come to mean both the unploughed headlands and
> any unploughable bit of land - and he gives the example of a small gully (
> with probably a winterbourne in it) that snakes across a field. Obviously
> ploughing had to stop just before the edge - leaving a meandering strip of
> unploughed grass and gully = sike
> 
> But which came first: the unploughed headland or the unploughable gully
> into which the field obviously drained!

My educated guess is that the unplowable bit came first, simply because of the
etymological associations with water flowing, pouring, running off, etc., and
land dropping.

Old Saxon:
sīk : rivulet, small stream (< *sī-k) > Siek
sīl : (drainage) canal, sewer, sluiceway (< *sī-l) > Siel

Old Low Franconian:
sīgan : to slant, to drop off

Old Frisian:
sīga : to sink, to drop
sīl : (drainage) canal, sewer, sluiceway (< *sī-l)

Old English:
sīgan : to sink
sige : drop
sīgend : wave
siht : stream
sīhte : swampy

Old Norse:
sīa : to pour, to sieve, to strain
siga : to drop, to fall, to be poured
sīga : to sink, to drop
sīk : slow-running water, pond, bight
sil : slow-running water, pond, bight
silvetni : slow-running water, pond, bight (< *vatn 'water')

Old German:
sīha : sieve, strainer

Proto-Germanic:
*sinhti- : sunken, swampy

Indo-European:
*seih(u)- : to drop, to drip

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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