LL-L "Etymology" 2010.05.05 (02) [DE-EN-NDS]

[Lowlands-L List]

===============================================
L O W L A N D S - L - 05 May 2010 - Volume 02
lowlands.list at gmail.com - http://lowlands-l.net/
Posting: lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org
Archive: http://listserv.linguistlist.org/archives/lowlands-l.html
Encoding: Unicode (UTF-08)
Language Codes: lowlands-l.net/codes.php
===============================================



From: Marcus Buck <list at marcusbuck.org>

Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2010.05.04 (04) [EN]



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

Subject: Etymology



Dear Lowlanders,

Talking about the month of May ... I wonder what the story behind the Low
Saxon word *Maiaap* and its German cognate *Maiaffe* is. Their literal
meaning is “May ape/monkey”, and this means something like ‘fool‘, ‘silly
person‘.

I wonder if it goes back to May being what in German is called the *Wonnemond
*or *Wonnemonat* ("month of bliss”), associated with courting. So perhaps *
Maiaap* and *Maiaffe* originally denoted a fellow that acted particularly
giddily, someone that got quite carried away playing the suitor during this
season of traditional courting rituals and festivities.

Any cognates and ideas out there?


The German word *Maiaffe *is technically a cognate but I wouldn't consider
it a real German word. The word is very rarely used and most Google results
relate to Low Saxon. It seems to be loan-translated from Low Saxon and seems
to be only used in Missingsch and Low Saxon based Northern German
vernacular. But it doesn't seem to be native to any High German dialect.

Another word of the form "May + 'animal name'" is *Maikatt *('May cat')*. *It
has the meanings 'kitten born in May' (kittens born in autumn are called
'Stoppelkatt') and 'cockchafer'. *Maikatt *is also a nickname given to
people who were fooled on May 1. In older times April 1 wasn't the only day
to fool people. April 30 and May 1 were other occasions to pull someone's
leg. (this tradition still exists in Denmark
<http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majkat> <http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Majkat>.)
Perhaps the words *Maiaap *and *Maikatt *are related by this custom of
fooling people. (The word *Aapkatt* ['ape cat'] is a Low Saxon word for
'ape', so there maybe is a mental connection between apes and cats. [cf.
German *Meerkatze *'guenon'].)

Marcus Buck



----------



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

Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2010.05.04 (04) [EN]



Beste Reinhard,



Du schreyvst:



*...Maiaap* and its German cognate *Maiaffe...*

Inter'sant Wourd! Amaleev nix van hoyrt! Is dat in siin Oursprong woll
Hough(-düütsch) edders kaomt dat van Platt aff?



So perhaps *Maiaap* and *Maiaffe* originally denoted a fellow that acted
particularly giddily, someone that got quite carried away playing the suitor
during this season of traditional courting rituals and festivities

De DE "Balz-Zeit" van de Vaogels ;-)!



Ick kenn mann den'n 'Pingst-Ossen", DE 'Pfingstochse', mann dey schall jao
woll vanne Süüd kaomen ('Almauftrieb').



Mit 'Mai' kenn 'ck mann den'n Snack LS *"Hey hett siin' witte Mai-Büx an".*



Mag ween, anner Lüüd köönt Dii meyhr helpen.



Allerbest!



Jonny Meibohm

Lower Saxony, Germany



----------



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

Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2010.05.04 (04) [EN]



NB: Ganz spontan fällt mir noch zu "Maiaffe" ein, dass ich irgendwo und
irgendwann mal gelesen habe, dass *"mai"* zB im Skandinavischen die
Bedeutung von "schön" hat - demnach wohl connativ ist mit gleichbedeutend LS
*"moi". *Ohne Gewähr!



"Lackaffe" = 'herausgeputzter, oberflächlicher Schönling'???



Allerbest!



Jonny Meibohm

Lower Saxony, Germany



===================================================
Send posting submissions to lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org.
Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
Send commands (including "signoff lowlands-l") to
listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org or lowlands.list at gmail.com
http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html.
===================================================
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/lowlands-l/attachments/20100505/f3cc6901/attachment.htm>