LL-L "Etymology" 2010.03.19 (02) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 19 March 2010 - Volume 02
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From: Marcus Buck <list at marcusbuck.org>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2010.03.19 (01) [EN]

From: Jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de>

*It's meaning 2 you're looking for, it says litterally "smaller island or
water next to bigger one(s?); piece of glacier that has broken off". ***

*So the general idea seems to be "smaller piece next to a bigger entity", be
it a lake, an island, or a glacier. **
I suppose in this meaning it's related to the Dutch verb "afkalven",
"geleidelijk afbrokkelen (m.n. van oevers)". Hard to translate this one to
English but it's something like "slow but steadily breaking down (of
(river)bank)".
I guess they thought the small islands surrounding a bigger one had
originally broken off the bigger one.*

I think THAT'S IT! Of course - no connection to any calf or cow at all! And
interesting is - important part of my hobby etymological experiences - that,
in special the near-by Dutch relation, as it occures very often if you want
to succeed in LS, is able to lift the mysterious 'fog'!

Allerbest and thanks again! Very, very useful, helpful and enlightening all
conclusions to find out the old roots of specifically, micro-located naval
designations! All the nonsense and "Google-proven-" or "we've learned it at
school-"-attestes about ridicule "dancing calves" definitely should end at
this point!


As I have suggested abovementioned connections too and still have defended
the "nonsense" etymology about "dancing calves" I want to ask: where's the
connection? If "Kalberdanz" is connected to "smaller island next to a bigger
island" which two islands would it refer to? If "Kalberdanz" is connected to
"break down (of a riverbank)" why is it "Kalberdanz" and not "Kalfdanz"?
"Kalberdanz" would suggest a verb "kalbern". Is a word like that attested?

About "Kalberdanz": This name is attested for at least four different places
in Northern Germany. In the Elbe mouth, near Helgoland, near Rügen and in
Steinhuder Meer. The common feature seems to be that they are areas with
heavy swell ("Wellengang"). Of course that doesn't entirely rule out the
"break down (of a riverbank)" explanation cause waves can be the cause of a
riverbank/shore breaking down. I don't know the four places so I can't tell
whether there are shores that are eroded by waves. But to me it seems as if
the name applies to the sea area and not the shore.

The calf is a symbol for a very frolic and rompy animal. We have the Low
Saxon words "kalvern" and "kalverig" for "to jump about, to be silly" and
"silly". And "Kalberdanz" can also mean "a frolic dance". So it seems
entirely plausible to me that "Kalberdanz" is a transferred meaning that
refers to the heavy movements you experience when moving through these heavy
sea areas by boat.

Marcus Buck

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

Subject: Etymology

Very interesting, Marcus.

Germanic names for ‘calf’ (**kalba-*) are supposed to be related to
Indo-European **geleb**h**-* etc. ‘to mass together’, ‘to agglomerate’, ‘to
cluster’, ‘to ball together’ (probably related to “cleave”, *kleven*, *
kleben* etc.). In other words, I guess, a calf is seen as a little
fluff-ball. I suppose this idea of “ball” is also why we have ‘calf (of the
leg)’ in English, denoting this pronounced muscle bulge at the back of the
lower leg (Dutch *kuit*, Low Saxon *Wad’*, German *Wade*).

So I wonder if the idea about this broken-off piece of shore (or seemingly
broken off islet) stems from the perception of it as an earthen protrusion
(aggregate, agglomeration) that affects the water flow (to create some
turbulence) and thereby makes a passing boat “dance”. This would have led to
a connection with the more understandable meaning of *Kalverdanz* as ‘calf’s
dance’, the silly hopping that frolicking calves tend to perform. This, in
turn, may have been connected with the biblical extension Hanne mentioned:
the dance around the golden calf of the erring (silly) Israelites.


Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA



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