LL-L "Lexicon" 2008.05.02 (11) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  - 02 May 2008 - Volume 11
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Lexicon

Dear Lowlanders,

For speakers of German and Low Saxon that have a foundation in English it is
surprising to find certain Scots words that seem quite "Continental".

One example I can come up with right now is *owerset* for "translate." Cf.
German *übersetzen* (*übersetz-*), (Germany) Low Saxon *œversetten *(*
œverset-*, farwestern *vertaal-*), Danish *oversætte* (*oversæt-*),
Norwegian *oversette* (*overset-*), and Swedish *översätta* (*översät-*),
all* *with the same meaning. (This seems to be a widespread figure of
speech, considering also Russian *переводить*, Ukrainian *перекладати*,
Croatian *prevoditi*, Hungarian *elszállít* and *átszállít*, etc.)

Another example that I just stumbled across is Scots *yearhunner* for
"century." Cf. German *Jahrhundert*, (Germany) Low Saxon *Jahrhunnerd
*(farwestern
*Eeu*), Danish *århundrede*, Norwegian *århundre*, and Swedish *århundrade*,
all with the same meaning.

My basic question: Is there any historical justification, or have these
perhaps been made up, perhaps on the basis of other Germanic languages?

According to The Dictionary of The Scots Language, *owerset* can be traced
back to the 18th century, at which time it used to mean 'to turn over' or
'to upset', as in *He died in nae choleric pet, Nor was his stomach owerset.
* The earliest recorded occurrences of *owerset* in the sense of 'translate'
are in 1994.

The same dictionary does not list *yearhunner* at all.

How do our Scots speakers and their cohorts feel about these?

Old English:
translate:*geþíedan*, *gewendan*, *wendan
*translation: *geþíede*
translator: *becweþere*

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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