LL-L "Etymology" 2007.03.31 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L - 31 March 2007 - Volume 02

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From: "heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk" <heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk >
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2007.03.30 (02) [D/E/French]

Sandy Fleming wrote:

>In Scots, the word "wick" is used to describe the corner of the mouth or
>eye. For example, "I juist saw it in the wick o my ee"; "I just saw it
>from the corner of my eye".

Could this not be conencted to "quick" in the sense of exposed/live flesh
such "I cut myself to the quick": could the 'quick of the eye' be the fleshy
bit/s in the corner ?

Just to add to the 'wick/ wich' debate - here in Worcestershire the Place
Name Books tell us that a 'wick' was a dairy farm as they are situated
on/next to meadows:

Except of course names like Droitwich which was known just as Wiche / Wick
and meant a trading place of salt

And Wichenford where I live which is still not 100% proved: some say it is
from wych elms ( but apparently we don't have these just ordinary elms):
some say from the tribe of the Wicca,

best wishes

Heather
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From: wim <wkv at home.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2007.03.30 (02) [D/E/French]

Hi,
Pelto…pol in poland also means veld doesn't it

Wim Verdoold

wkv at home.nl
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com
Subject: Etymology

Hi, Wim!

Quite right apparently.  There's Slavonic *pol- (> pol'e 'field',
Polska'Poland', etc.) that belongs to this fascinating etymon.

But wait! There's more. The plot thickens as permutations abound.

Old Saxon has, besides neuter feld, the apparently linked feminine word
folda '(surface of the) earth', 'land', 'grazing ground', corresponding to
Old Norse fold, and Old English feminine folde which developed into now
archaic "fold" as in 'earth', 'dry land', 'dwelling place', 'district',
'land' (also rustic "foldsitter" for "hare").  ("Fold" in the sense of
"animal enclosure" is another creature.)

Indo-European: *pel(ə)- 'flat', 'even', 'expansive' (so kind of Lowlandish,
huh?)

But wait! There's even more.

It's related to words like "flat", plat, "plain", "plane", "plan" ...

This has been connected with Latin *pla-n- (> planus, plana 'flat', 'plain'
etc.) and * pal- (> palma 'palm (of the hand)').

Also related is Greek *πλᾶν- *plân- 'roam', 'wander' (... across open land,
etc.), as in πλανε͂σ planês 'wanderer', 'vagabond', πλανε͂τεσ αστέρεσ
planêtes astéres 'roaming stars', 'planets'.

Old Norse has flana 'to roam'.

'Roam', 'wander" no doubt implies 'open land'.

And the cherry on top ... Personally I wonder if the "plant" group of words
belongs to it.  This may appear far-fetched at first, but please consider
Sanskrit (bearing in mind the idea of "flat" as well):

फल् phal: to come/bring forth, to emit, to burst, to be fruitful, to yield,
to result
फल phala: fruit, yield, result, board, blade
फलक phalaka: fruit, yield, result, board, plank, leaf, flat surface, palm of
the hand
फलभृत् phalabhṙt: fruit-bearing, fruitful
फलग्रहि phalagrahi: fruit-bearing, fruitful
फालकृष्ट phalakṙṣṭa: tilled with a plow, growing on arable land, produced by
cultivation, plowed or cultivated soil
फलाराम phalārāma: orchard
... and there are tons more in this group.

The connection appears to be *"yield of the land" > *"grazing ground" >
*"even, open land suitable for cultivation."

How cool is that?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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