LL-L "Etymology" 2008.05.26 (05) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  - 25 May 2008 - Volume 05
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

You wrote:

Around the town of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, there are a few
villages with "zoy" in the name: Chedzoy, Middlezoy, Westonzoyland.

Has anybody any suggestions about what the "zoy" could mean?

My immediate thought was that these could come from "...'s oy", i.e. "...'s
island".

Some digging brought to light that these places in central Somerset were
islands, as were nearby Atheln*ey*, Bradn*ey*, Godn*ey*, Hackn*ey*, Henl*ey*,
Hors*ey*, Middeln*ey*, Mucheln*ey*, Other*y*, Rodn*ey*, Thorn*ey*, West*holm
*, and their Brythonic comrades Stick*linch*, Moor*linch* and Char*linch*.

Isaac Taylor, *Places of Etymological Illustrations of History, Ethnology
and Geography*, Kessinger Publishing, 2005, ISBN-10: 1417971576, ISBN-13:
978-1417971572 (Now there's a book to get!)

I also "found" nearby Bleadn*ey*, Laucherl*ey*, Lower Godn*ey*, Nether Stow*
ey*, and Storgurs*ey*.

Cf. Old English *éa(land)*, *holm*; Norwegian *øy*; Swedish *holm*

Apparently, there used to be a lake in that area, still in Saxon times, and
according to Taylor, the bottom of the lake must have been the pasture land
area now known as Mead. I suppose you get an idea of the size of the lake if
you map out all those "island" names and bear in mind Mead. It must have
been a fairly shallow lake, judging by today's terrain. Even though, the
said places ought to be somewhat elevated and Mead ought to be the lowest.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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