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<p class="MsoNormal"><font> </font></p><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif">From: </font>Andrew Laker <<a href="mailto:lakerphoto@gmail.com" target="_blank">lakerphoto@gmail.com</a>><font style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br>
Subject: </font>Original pronunciation of my Laker surname<br><br><span>
</span>Hello,<br>
<br>
I am trying to learn more about Low Saxon pronunciation, particularly<br>
as it may have applied to how my ancestors spoke their surname, Laker.<br>
They hailed from the Löningen, Oldenburg, region. I first find the<br>
name in this area in the mid-1500s as "Lake" and "Laecke." It is my<br>
understanding that the "r" was later added to the end of the name to<br>
denote an inhabitant of the area, which may have been a fertile marsh<br>
along the Haas river. The name throughout most of the 1600s was<br>
spelled Laker. In a 1728 St. Vitus Catholic Church marriage record,<br>
the spelling "Laaker" first appears. This convention last appeared in<br>
the church records in 1786. The name was Laker or Lacker thereon.<br>
<br>
After the family moved to America, a Kentucky-born census taker in 1850<br>
wrote their surname as "Loger," which is how he must have heard it.<br>
Just two months later, the father applied for citizenship. The<br>
document was entirely hand-written by the clerk, who wrote the alien's<br>
name as Minard Locker. However, the immigrant signed the document<br>
"Meinert Laker." This man had died by the 1860 census, but his wife is<br>
once again enumerated as "Loger." Her three oldest sons had moved out<br>
and started their own families by then, and the same census taker<br>
enumerated them all as "Laker."<br>
<br>
With this evidence in mind, I am assuming the name must have been<br>
originally pronounced with the "a" being a long vowell sound, as in<br>
the English pronunciation of "father." Today, the American family<br>
pronounces the name just like the NBA basketball team the Los Angeles<br>
Lakers. Could someone please confirm or deny my assumption about the<br>
original pronunciation?<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
Andrew Laker<br>
Columbus, Indiana<br><br>----------<br><div>
<br>
<div style="color:rgb(0,0,153)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">From: R. F. Hahn <</span><a style="color:rgb(0,0,0)" href="mailto:sassisch@6ayoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@6ayoo.com</a><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">></span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Subject: Etymology</span><br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">
<br style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">
Hi, Andrew, and welcome to Lowlands-L!<br><br>The long "a" you are talking about is pronounced [ɒː], a low rounded vowel that sounds like toward an "o" than the vowel in "father". In some dialects it is indeed pronounced [oː].<br>
<br>The "-er" is pronounced as in the dialects of southeastern England, also as in Australia and New Zealand. Its basic pronunciation is [ɝ], a lower mid central unrounded vowel that is r-colored, or as non-r-colored [ɜ].<br>
<br>Since it is not word-initial, the "k" sound is not aspirated (i.e. is not pronounced with a puff of breath as it is in southeastern England and in Standard German). This may explain the misspelled form "Loger", since to some people's ears it sounds like a [g] sound. <br>
<br><a href="http://lowlands-l.net/grammar-new/" target="_blank">http://lowlands-l.net/grammar-new/</a><br><br>I am attaching a small sound file with my pronunciation of "Laker".<br></span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
I hope this helps.</span><br><br><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">By the way, most Low Saxon dialects of the Oldenburg area, like those of Emsland, Eastern Friesland, Groningen, Fryslȃn, and Northern Friesland, have Frisian substrata.<br>
<br>Regards,<br>Reinhard/Ron<br>Seattle, USA</span><br></div></div>
<br>
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