<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">L O W L A N D S - L - 21 January 2008 - Volume 02
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">=========================================================================</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe"><span class="EP8xU" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">
Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong</span> <span class="lDACoc"><<a href="mailto:Dutchmatters@comcast.net">Dutchmatters@comcast.net</a>></span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe">LL-L "Etymology" 2008.01.21 (08) [D/E]<br><br></span><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
From: <span><font color="#00681c"><span style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">Luc
Hellinckx</span></font></span><span> </span><span><<a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com" target="_blank"> luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a>></span> </span></font><br><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Subject: <span>LL-L "Etymology"</span></span></font><br><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span></font><br><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
Beste Ron,</span></font><br><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span></font><br><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
You wrote:</span></font><br><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;"></span></font></div><font style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" face="Arial" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span></font>
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><i><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">schummeln</span></font></i>:</p>
<p style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">1.<font size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font>reinigen,
schoonmaken (to clean)</p>
<p style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">2.<font size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font>kuirpas, <font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">op zijn
gemak wandelen</span></font>
(to amble, to walk in a sloppy way)</p>
<p style="margin-left: 1in; text-indent: -0.25in; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">3.<font size="1"><span>
</span></font></span></font>oblichten
(voornamelijk in spelen) [> <i><span style="font-style: italic;">schummeln</span></i>
Missingsch en andere Noordduitse dialecten] (to cheat (especially in games))</p><div style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="Ih2E3d">
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Amazing
to see how meanings can shift in a similar way.<br>
<br>
Low Saxon, (re "schummeln" Foerste): sich schnell hin- und herbewegen
> betrügen<br>
Brabantish, (re "schokken"): bounce up and down > husband secretly
hoarding part of his salary<br>
<br>
Kind greetings,<br>
<br>
Luc Hellinckx<br>
<br>
----------<br>
<br>
From: R. F. Hahn <</span></font><a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">
sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: Etymology<br>
<br>
Yeah, how about that, Luc?!</p>
<div style="margin-left: 30pt;">
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font color="#000099" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Low Saxon, (re "schummeln" Foerste):
sich schnell hin- und herbewegen > betrügen</span></font></p>
</div>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">For
everyone else: Low Saxon <i><span style="font-style: italic;">schummeln</span></i>
'to move rapidly back and forth', 'to cheat'<br>
<br>
And previously we also mentioned the semantic branch of 'to clean' ('originally
'to scrub' I suppose).<br>
<br>
Well, I think that "fast movement" > "slight of hand"
> "trickery" > "cheating" is what happened there in
the semantic history.<br>
<br>
Now, I have a feeling this ain't the end of the story either ... Remember my
"lectures" about "iterative ~ frequentive"? There you have
it again, that busy little /-l-/. <br>
<br>
Don't take the vowel too seriously, because labial consonants (/m/, /b/, /p/)
have a way of making adjacent short vowels round (= labial); so there might as
well have been an /i/, /e/ or /a/ instead of the /u/ or /o/ for all we know. <br>
<br>
So now bear this in mind and take away that iterative ~ frequentive suffix ...
and ... presto-changeo! ... we have "sham" (= 'trick', 'hoax', etc.),
noun, adjective and verb!<br>
<br>
This is what the Oxford English dictionary has to say about the etymology: </span></font></p>
<div style="margin-left: 30pt;">
<p style="margin-left: 0.5in;"><font size="4"><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;">[Of obscure origin; the word first
appears as slang, together with the related verb, about 1677, and immediately
came into very frequent use. </span></font><a name="117a023ead07a685_50221735n1"></a><br>
<font size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Commonly explained as in some way connected with <i><span style="font-style: italic;">sham</span></i>, north. dial. form of <a href="http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/crossref?query_type=word&queryword=sham&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&search_id=A887-dwBb6p-16260&result_place=1&xrefword=shame" target="_blank">
SHAME</a> <i><span style="font-style: italic;">n. </span></i>and<i><span style="font-style: italic;"> v.</span></i> This is not impossible, on the
supposition that the slang word arose from some once well-known anecdote or
incident in a play. The following quot. may possibly contain a genuine
tradition, but the alleged origin does not seem to account satisfactorily for
the sense in the early examples. (North says that the word was introduced into
general use, in the phrase 'sham plot', by Dangerfield; but it was already
common some years before 1680, the date to which this statement refers.)<br>
<a name="117a023ead07a685_50221735q1"></a><b><i><font color="#6666cc"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204); font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">a</span></font></i><font color="#6666cc"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);">
1734</span></font></b><font color="#6666cc"><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 204);"> <a href="http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-n.html#north" color="#002653" target="_blank"><font color="#002653"><span style="color: rgb(0, 38, 83);">
NORTH</span></font></a>
<i><span style="font-style: italic;">Exam.</span></i> II. iv. §1 (1740) 231 The
word <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Sham</span></i> is true Cant of the
Newmarket Breed. It is contracted of <i><span style="font-style: italic;">ashamed</span></i>.
The native Signification is a Town Lady of Diversion, in Country Maid's
Cloaths, who to make good her Disguise, pretends to be so <i><span style="font-style: italic;">sham'd!</span></i> Thence it became proverbial, when
a maimed Lover was laid up, or looked meager, to say he had met with a <i><span style="font-style: italic;">Sham</span></i>.</span></font>] </span></font></p>
</div>
<p style="margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0.5in;"><font size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">So what if it's related to iterative <i><span style="font-style: italic;">schummel</span></i>
~ <i><span style="font-style: italic;">schommel</span></i>? And might
"scam" be related to it too? Again, the <i><span style="font-style: italic;">OED</span></i> says its origin is obscure, but it seems to be of
American origin and has been attested only since the early 20th century. Might
it be a variant of "sham" which has been known since the 17th century
(an era of many Dutch loans, by the way)? Is there a Dutch word * <i><span style="font-style: italic;">scham</span></i> or *<i><span style="font-style: italic;">schom</span></i>,
old or new, that might be related? (I don't think that the "shame"
group is related to it, though.)<br>
<br>
And the plot keeps thickening ...<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron</span></font></p></div>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Re: Schom
and scham. Hallo Ron,and Luc.</span></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">We used
the verb "sjoemelen" at home to connote cheating at cards. It was
probably a Low-land import through my Mother's side of the family. The
longer I stick with </span></font><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Lowlands</span></font><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">, the more of those words I recognize!
</span></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Schommelen
= to play on "de schommel" is to play on the swing. Another meaning
is to swing back and forth like a hanging planter or a basssinet (also called een
schommelwieg): to walk drunkenly is also called schommelen. </span></font></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><font color="navy" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">I also
found the word schompermuilen v. int. the meaning of which is given as "een
schamper gezicht zetten" The word schamper adj or adv. is related to schimpen
and beschimpen which litteraly means to shame somebody. So that would be from
another root. <br></span></font></p><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
From: </span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe"><span class="EP8xU" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">Luc Hellinckx</span> <span class="lDACoc"><<a href="mailto:luc.hellinckx@gmail.com">
luc.hellinckx@gmail.com</a>></span></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject:
</span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe">LL-L "Etymology"<br><br></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Beste Ron,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
You wrote:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<blockquote style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" type="cite">So
what if it's related to iterative <i>schummel</i> ~ <i>schommel</i>?
And might "scam" be related to it too? Again, the <i>OED</i> says its
origin is obscure, but it seems to be of American origin and has been
attested only since the early 20th century. Might it be a variant of
"sham" which has been known since the 17th century (an era of many
Dutch loans, by the way)? Is there a Dutch word *
<i>scham</i> or *<i>schom</i>, old or new, that might be related? (I
don't think that the "shame" group is related to it, though.)<br>
</blockquote>
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Me neither, don't think "shame" is related, change from a long to a
short vowel (shame >< sham/scam) is not too obvious.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
The o>a>o change (schom > scham) on the other hand can be
bridged, so I think you're on to something very interesting there Ron!
Your explanation immediately made me think of the word "schammeteern"
that is quite often used in Southern Dutch; it means "to take away
furtively, to sneak" and is believed to be a derivation of French
"escamoter", of which the etymology reads:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" title="ÉTYMOLOGIE"><span><b>escamoter</b>: Espagn.
escamotar et escamodar, changer les choses de place, terme de
bohémiens. Là s'arrête ce que nous savons sur ce mot ; ni commutare de
Ménage, ni squama, indiqué avec doute par Diez, ou le gaélique cam,
tromperie, ne donnent rien d'assuré.<br>
<br>
(escamoter > scam?)<br>
</span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Spanish gypsy word apparently, but apart from that, a dead end street.
For some reason "commutare" is not an option either, even though
semantically this would fit well:</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
(es)commutare = to exchange, to swap > to sneak > to deceive</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
with the field of "tauschen" (commutare, play with dice, swap,
deceive), whose etymology is not solved either. One of the oldest
attestations is "rostiuschaere" (before 1300, horse coper (< Flemish
"kopen")), nowadays called a "pjeirentösser" in Brabantish. </span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
This may as well point in gypsy direction, so I was wondering if in
some obscure Indian dialect, you don't happen to know any trade-related
words that sound more or less like -kam-, -kom- on the one hand or
-tus- on the other.</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Kind greetings,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
Luc Hellinckx</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">From: R. F. Hahn <</span><a style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">
sassisch@yahoo.com</a><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: Etymology<br><br>
Interesting, Luc!<br><br>So far I have found no lead in any Romany and Sanskrit reference. We'd need a good Iberian Kalo (Caló) dictionary (not North American Caló, which is a US Spanish sociolect).<br><br></span><div style="margin-left: 40px; color: rgb(0, 0, 153); font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
(es)commutare = to exchange, to swap > to sneak > to deceive</div><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br>In that case it's easy to go to 'to switch', a common vendors' practice forever, where customers buy one thing but end up with something different, inferior (known as "bait and switch").
<br><br>Regards,<br>Reinhard/Ron<br></span><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="HcCDpe"><br><br></span>