LL-L "Etymology" 2011.05.21 (03) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 21 May 2011 - Volume 03
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Dear Lowlanders,

This is about two of two of my favorite Low Saxon weather terms.

The first describes the sort of weather we're having today: overcast. In Low
Saxon it is *h**ẹvenschaddig*. Its etymology is quite transparent:

*H**ẹven* [ˈheːvn̩] ~ [ˈhɛːvn̩] ~ [ˈheːvm̩] ~ [ˈhɛːvm̩] (cognate of
"heaven") 'sky'
*schaddig* [ˈʃadɪç] ~ [ˈʃaɾɪç] 'shady'

Not as transparent seems to be the etymology of the other term, denoting
'drizzly' in reference to a gloomy day with light rain:

*drusig *[ˈdruːzɪç]

This word can also denote what its supposed English cognate denotes:
'drowsy', so something like 'sleepy'.

And there is a corresponding noun:

*Druus* [ˈdruːs] (1) 'drizzle', 'light rain'; (2) 'sleepiness', 'dozing'

Question: Are we dealing with one or two etymon?

English has the corresponding now lesser used noun "drowse" which appears in
Early Modern English in the 1570s. The Online Etymological
Dictionary<http://www.etymonline.com/>claims that Old English had a
"similar" noun and that there is 600-year gap;
and they wonder if "drowse" is a back formation from "drowsy." "Drowsy,"
first shows up in the 1520s. What do you think. Could Low Saxon or Dutch
influence be responsible?

In Old English I can come up only with a corresponding verb: *drusian* ~ *
drusan* (/druuz-/) 'grow languid'. According to the OED it goes back to
Proto-Germanic **drus*-* *and is also related to Old English* dreosan* 'to
fall' and hence with Modern English "dreary":

O.E. dreorig "sad, sorrowful," originally "cruel, bloody, blood-stained,"
from dreor "gore, blood," from (ge)dreosan (pp. droren) "fall, decline,
fail," from W.Gmc. *dreuzas (cf. O.N. dreyrigr "gory, bloody," and more
remotely, Ger. traurig "sad, sorrowful"), from PIE base *dhreu- "to fall,
flow, drip, droop" (see drip). The word has lost its original sense of
"dripping blood." Sense of "dismal, gloomy" first recorded 1667 in "Paradise
Lost," but O.E. had a related verb drysmian "become gloomy."

As suggested, *dreorig* is related to Low Saxon *trurig* and German *traurig
* "sad, sorrowful," and their nominal forms *Truur* (*Truer*) and
*Trauer*respectively, 'sadness', 'sorrow', 'mourning'. Since in Old
English it is
*dreorig*, I would have expected Low Saxon **drurig*, and so I wonder if it
is a German calque.

Old Saxon has *drusinōn* 'to fall', 'to wither', 'to grow thin', and *
driosan* 'to fall'. But I can find no traces of adjectival and nominal
forms.

Any ideas?

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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