<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L  -  24 June 2007 - Volume 03</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
From: </span><span id="_user_ezinsser@icon.co.za" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25); font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Elsie Zinsser</span><span style="font-weight: normal; font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="lg"> <<a href="mailto:ezinsser@icon.co.za">
ezinsser@icon.co.za</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2007.06.23 (07) [E]</span><br><p><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;">Hi all,</span></font></span></p>





<p><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;"><span></span>It has puzzled
me too why, in Mennonite Plautdietsch, the devil would be called "jäl Tän".<br>I suspect there is
a deeper meaning for the colour "yellow". </span></font></span></p>





<p><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;">Perhaps the connotative
meaning of yellow </span></font></span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;">is that of </span></font><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;" lang="DE">'falsehood' as one finds in the given<br>meanings '</span></font></span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;" lang="DE">
übertrieben' and 'prahlerisch'</span></font><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;" lang="DE">? <span> </span></span></font></span></p>





<p><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;">What I'd like to
know is the cultural history behind these connotations and how old it is.<br>Does 'yellow' not
also mean 'cowardice'? Why is a coward not just plain blue? <span> </span></span></font></span></p>



<p><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;" lang="FR">Regards, </span></font></span></p><span class="sg">

<p><span><font color="black" face="Batang" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Batang; color: black;" lang="FR">Elsie Zinsser</span></font></span></p></span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" class="q">




<p style="margin-left: 36pt;"><font color="teal" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: teal;">>
Does anyone know the story behind the Low Saxon use of <i><span style="font-style: italic;">geel</span></i> (<i><span style="font-style: italic;">gääl</span></i>)
"yellow" as "("High") German" (or as
"Germanized Low Saxon")?</span></font></p></span><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sasisch@yahoo.com">sasisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Subject: Etymology </span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Hi, Elsie!</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
I'm with you there.  I had hoped to find some traditional culture connection.</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">In my native culture, yellow is not a symbol of cowardice but of jealousy and envy (which is green in English).  So I half suspect that there's a connection there, namely trying to talk like the "posh" High Germans may have been seen as a sign of envy of their supposedly higher social status.  Kind of makes sense, doesn't it?  Remember that in Olland it's green.
</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><br>