<div style="text-align: center; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">===========================================<br>L O W L A N D S - L - 27 June 2009 - Volume 01<br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"><a href="mailto:lowlands@lowlands-l.net">lowlands@lowlands-l.net</a> - <a href="http://lowlands-l.net/">http://lowlands-l.net/</a></span><br style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">
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===========================================<br></div><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="gI"><span class="gD" style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">M.-L. Lessing</span> <span class="go"><<a href="mailto:marless@gmx.de">marless@gmx.de</a>></span></span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Subject: </span><span class="gI"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">LL-L "History" 2009.06.26 (05) [EN]</span><br><br></span><div id=":c1" class="ii gt">
<div bgcolor="#ffffff">
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4">Dear Reinhard, one curious question
about "Steelyard": Did it have anything to do with steel?! I looked it up on
Wikipedia, but they say nothing about the word's etymology, and the German
Wikipedia spells the English version "Stiliard" alternatively. I thougt
(naively) that "Stalhof" had something to do with stables. Wrong again?
:-)</font></div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4">Hartlich!</font></div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Â </div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4">Marlou</font></div>
<div style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4">(Hamborg/Holstein)</font></div>
<div>Â </div>
<blockquote style="border-left: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding-left: 5px; padding-right: 0px; margin-left: 5px; margin-right: 0px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" dir="ltr"><div class="im">
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">----- Original Message ----- </div>
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<b>From:</b>
<a title="lowlands.list@GMAIL.COM" href="mailto:lowlands.list@GMAIL.COM" target="_blank">Lowlands-L List</a> </div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>To:</b> <a title="LOWLANDS-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG" href="mailto:LOWLANDS-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG" target="_blank">LOWLANDS-L@LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG</a>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, June 27, 2009 12:24
AM</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 10pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><b>Subject:</b> LL-L "History" 2009.06.26 (05)
[EN]</div><br><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL">From:
R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>Subject:
Etymology<br><br></span><br></div>We are talking about the
Steelyard, ...</blockquote></div>
</div><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-size: 11pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" lang="NL">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: Etymology<br><br>Hi, Marlou!<br><br>And it's a good question, too.<br><br>Here is what the English Wikipedia says:<br><br></span><div style="margin-left: 40px; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL">The Steelyard gave its name to a type of portable balance, consisting of a graduated horizontal metal beam suspended on a chain. The whole balance would be hung from a roof beam. A heavy object to be weighed, for instance a sack of flour, would be hung on the shorter end of the beam, while lesser but known weights would be slid along the other, longer end, till the beam balanced. The weight of the sack could then be calculated by multiplying the sum of the known weights by the ratio of the distances from the beam's fulcrum.</span><br>
<span style="font-size: 11pt;" lang="NL"></span></div><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" lang="NL"><br>The common non-English names -- German <i>Stahlhof</i>, Low Saxon <i>Stahlhoff</i>, Dutch <i>Stalhof</i>, Russian <i>Стальной двор</i> -- refer to "yard" as "court" or "courtyard", here in the sense of "compound". The English noun "steelyard" denotes a weighing device, in which "yard" does not mean "courtyard". In this case it was a large version of an ordinary steelyard balance (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelyard_balance">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steelyard_balance</a>), German <i>Handwaage</i> or <i>Schnellwaage</i>, Low Saxon <i>Ünzner</i> or<i> Ünstel</i>, Dutch <i>unster</i>, Russian <i>безмен</i>.<br>
</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">So it seems to me that this is either a case of misunderstanding of "yard" or a case of word play in naming the compound.</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;">Regards,</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Reinhard/Ron</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Seattle, USA</span><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br>
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