<font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"> <br>L O W L A N D S - L - 19 May 2007 - Volume 06<br><br>=========================================================================<br><br>From: <span id="_user_kevin.caldwell1963@verizon.net" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">
Kevin Caldwell <<a href="mailto:kevin.caldwell1963@verizon.net">kevin.caldwell1963@verizon.net</a>></span><br>Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2007.05.18 (04) [E]<br></font><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">
<span class="q">
<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">> From: </font><font color="#5b1094" size="2"><span style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);"><span>Jonny Meibohm <<a href="mailto:altkehdinger@freenet.de" title="mailto:altkehdinger@freenet.de" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
altkehdinger@freenet.de</a>></span></span></font><br>
<span></span><font size="2">> Subject: LL-L
"Etymology" 2007.05.19 (01) [E]</font></span><br><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">></font><br><font size="2">
> He, Ron,</font></span></p>
<p><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"><span class="q"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">
> </font></span></span></font><font size="1"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">going on with LS 'Huuk'/'Huke'/'Hoek'.</font></span></font></p>
<p><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"><span class="q"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">
> </font></span></span></font><font size="1"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">This afternoon I had a meeting with some of my native
neighbours, and I told them about our/this thread.</font></span></font></p>
<p><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"><span class="q"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">
> </font></span></span></font><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">Very interesting!</font></span></p>
<p><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"><span class="q"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">
> </font></span></span></font><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><font size="2">We came to the agreement that 'Huuk'/'Huke' denotes
the <strong><b><u>inner</u></b></strong>
side of an 'edge', of always an artificial/geometrical angle, e.g. of any kind
of building (so as in my formerly mentioned: 'dike').</font></span></p>
</span></font>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Could English 'nook' be a reanalysis of 'an
hook'?</span></font></p>
<p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Kevin Caldwell</span></font></p><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">----------<br><br></font>
<font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>Subject: Etymology<br><br>Kevin:<br></font><p style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">> Could English 'nook' be a reanalysis of 'an
hook'?</span></font></p>
<font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">I don't consider it impossible, Kevin. If it were correct, it would be a case like Low Saxon <span style="font-style: italic;">maars</span> (~ <span style="font-style: italic;">
Moors </span>~ <span style="font-style: italic;">Mors</span>) 'ass', 'arse', likely from <span style="font-style: italic;">an (d)em ~ am aars </span>'on the arse' (as in the old favorite vulgarity
<span style="font-style: italic;">Lek my (an dem >) am aars</span> > <span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Lek/Lik my an'n maars! (</span>Leck/Lick mi an'n Mors!</span>,<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">
*</span> the equivalent of English "Kiss my ass!" and the in the USA widely familiar Yiddish equivalent !קוש מיר ׳ן תּחת <span style="font-style: italic;">Kush mir 'n tokhes! ~ Kish mir 'n tukhes!</span>
).<br><br></font><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2">* Modern Low Saxon lost the dative forms, hence <span style="font-style: italic;">an dem</span>
<span style="font-style: italic;">> an den ~ an'n</span> 'on(to) the'. Middle Saxon <span style="font-style: italic;">-m</span> may have been reanalized as the onset of the following noun; hence <span style="font-style: italic;">
aars</span> > <span style="font-style: italic;">maars</span> (= Lower Elbe dialects [mo:3s], hence written <span style="font-style: italic;">Mors</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Moors</span>). Just a theory.
<br> By the way, <span style="font-style: italic;">Mors</span> is also the word used in Missingsch. Many vulgar curses like the one above are imported into Missingsch in the complete Low Saxon form, or they are translated, often with "wrong" case markings according to Standard German, hence
<span style="font-style: italic;">Leck mich an'n Mors!</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">Kanns mich maal an'n Mors lecken, Alder!</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Mors</span> sounds less "brutal" than the German equivalent
<span style="font-style: italic;">Arsch</span>. A "lovely" related curse, also used</font><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2"> in its full Low Saxon form</font><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2">
in Missingsch, is <span style="font-style: italic;">Klei di an'n Mors!</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">Klay dy an d'n maars!</span>) "Go scratch your ass!" (<span style="font-style: italic;">Klayen
</span>[<span style="font-style: italic;">klei(e)n</span>], related to <span style="font-style: italic;">klay</span> [<span style="font-style: italic;">Klei</span>] 'clay', originally meant 'to remove clay' or 'to dig in clay' but came to be extended to meaning things like 'muck around', 'to fiddle (with)', 'to rummage', 'to scrape', 'to scratch'
</font><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2">. It's a useful Low Saxon verb to know and in most contexts is not vulgar; e.g.</font><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2"><span style="font-style: italic;">
<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>Hey klayt sik an d'n kop</span> 'He's scratching his head',</font><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2"> <span style="font-style: italic;">Hey klayt sik an d'n kop
</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">He kleit sik an'n Kopp</span>) 'He's scratching his head'</font><font style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);" size="2">, <span style="font-style: italic;">Hey klay in syn fik rüm, man den slœtel kun un kun hey nich vinden
</span> (<span style="font-style: italic;">He klei in de Fick r</span></font><font style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" size="2"><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">üm, man den Slötel kunn un kunn he nich finnen
</span><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">) 'He kept rummaging in his pocket, but he simply couldn't find the key'.</span><br></font></div><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"><br>Archaic English "nock" 'small hook' (usually on a spindle) appears to be derived from Scandinavian
<i>hnokki</i> or its Danish/Norwegian derivative <span style="font-style: italic;">nokke</span> or Swedish derivative <span style="font-style: italic;">nock</span>.<br><br>"Nook" seems to have come from Northern English dialects. A candidates mentioned as a donor or relative in the
<span style="font-style: italic;">OED</span> are Middle Saxon <span style="font-style: italic;">ōke</span> ~ <span style="font-style: italic;">nōke</span> '</font><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">
acute-angled piece of land', which I take as being related to the Modern Low Saxon <span style="font-style: italic;">oken</span> ~<span style="font-style: italic;"> œken</span> ('slanted roof top', 'attic') Jonny and I discussed earlier.
<br><br>I wonder if the <span style="font-style: italic;">-en</span> suffix marks an original plural, but I'm more inclined to see it as a lexical nominal suffix as in <span style="font-style: italic;">hak<span style="text-decoration: underline;">
en</span></span> 'hook', <span style="font-style: italic;">brad<span style="text-decoration: underline;">en</span></span> 'roast', <span style="font-style: italic;">lad<span style="text-decoration: underline;">
en</span></span> 'shop', <span style="font-style: italic;">wag<span style="text-decoration: underline;">en</span></span> 'car', <span style="font-style: italic;">kar(r<span style="text-decoration: underline;">
en</span>)</span> 'cart', etc., based on verbal <span style="font-style: italic;">haak-</span> 'hook', <span style="font-style: italic;">braad-</span> 'roast', <span style="font-style: italic;">laad-
</span> 'load', <span style="font-style: italic;">waag-</span> 'weigh' (cf. German <span style="font-style: italic;">wägen</span> 'to weigh', <span style="font-style: italic;">be<span style="text-decoration: underline;">
weg</span>en</span> 'to move'), <span style="font-style: italic;">kar-</span> 'to cart' (< Latin <span style="font-style: italic;">carrus</span> 'car(t)'), etc.<br><br>Regards,<br>Reinhard/Ron<br>
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