LL-L "Etymology" 2007.08.06 (02) [E]

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 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 (Zeeuws)

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  06 August 2007 - Volume 02

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

Folks,

A nice set of false friends came out in our exchange about idiomatic
expressions involving personal names.

Afrikaans: stadig 'slow', 'gradual(ly)', 'slow-witted'
Low Saxon: (stadig >) stedig 'constant', 'steadfast(ly)', 'reliable',
'steady', 'steadily'
   > Scandinavian stadig
Middle Dutch: stedig, steeg 'steady', 'steadily'
English: (stedig >) "steady"

The origin is the group represented by (stede >) "stead" ('place'), so the
original meaning was something like "not moving (from one's place)" and
derived from that the idea of 'stable', 'constant', 'unvarying',
'invariable', later 'regular(ly)' and 'gradual(ly)' (such as in "steady
increase") and later 'slow(ly)'.

The Low Saxon focus is on the positive. Afrikaans focused on 'slow' and then
developed the negative 'slow-witted'.

So, describing a person as stedig in Low Saxon or stadig in Scandinavian is
quite a different thing from calling a person stadig in Afrikaans. Careful!

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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