LL-L "Etymology" 2007.07.18 (01) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  18 July 2007 - Volume 01

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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Hi all,

Ron used the word 'maskee' as in 'Maskee you likie' the other day and it
reminded me of the Afrikaans 'miskien' and Dutch misschien. So
Luc informed me that older folks in Brussels still say "maskien" for Dutch
"misschien", and that it comes from

< mag-schien = mag-geschieden.

Now, are there cognates in other Lowlands languages of the Afrikaans
interjection "allemaskie"? Other interjections still used by older folks are
"allemintig" and "allemapstieks". The "alle" –part possibly comes from
'almagtig', and is used euphemistically.

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

Hi, Elsie, Lowlanders!

Let me just add a few footnotes to your post.

   - I said it in a message to the Travel Team, i.e. off-list.
   - The language I used was China Coast Pidgin, now extinct. (It's the
   language from which English got expressions like "look-see" and "long time
   no see.")
   - In Tok Pisin (Neo-Melanesian, which, like many other English-based
   pidgins and creoles drew heavily from CCP) maski developed to mean
   'although', 'never mind', 'forget about it'
   - For "maybe," Danish has måske, Swedish the variant kanske (can
   happen).

I wonder if there's a Middle Saxon connection, but right now I don't have
access to a dictionary.  In Modern Low Saxon you can say mag sien or mag
wesen ("may be," also mag angahn "may be the case").

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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