Gism (1901): a second thought

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>----------
>
>E. D. Gillespie, _A Book of Remembrances_ (Lippincott, Philadelphia,
>1901): p. 33:
>
><<This so amused my mother and her sister, that on repeating the
>story to my grandmother she instantly wrote these verses: / ... /
>"Now, mother, when we wish to soar / And cut a dash at 'Bellespore,'
>/ You will repeat some vulgarism, / What we call nectar you call gism.">>
>
>----------
>
>This verse, ostensibly quoted from E. D. Gillespie's mother, would
>have been written around 1800, I think. The context: a bookish girl
>had claimed that her sister had gone out to read poetry ("Night
>Thoughts"), but their unpretentious mother had spoiled the illusion
>by saying that the girl had gone out to get "a mess of poke".
>
>I don't know what "Bellespore" means ("Belle Espoir"?).
>
>What does "gism" mean here?

What pronunciation is expressed by "gism" here? Is this isolated
ca.-1800 word /gIzm/ or /dZIzm/?

If it's /dZIzm/ (like "jism") it's surely reasonable to _try_ to
relate it to the "jism" later used for "spirit"/"vigor" or so and for "semen".

But what if it's /gIzm/?

Then one might attempt an association with dialectal
"gizzen"/"gizzern"/"gizzem"/etc. = "gizzard"/"throat", right? SND
shows "gizzern" with variants. DARE shows "gizzle" = "goozle" =
"goozlem" = "guzzle" = "throat". Also "goozlum" = "viscous food such
as a sauce, gravy, or pudding ...".

IF there was a word (ca. 1800) pronounced /gIzm/ meaning "gravy" or
so, it would explain the "gism" in the above quotation. But how (if
at all) would one relate it to the later "gism"/"jism"? Is a /g/ >
/dZ/ mutation explainable/believable?

Also note "gizzard" (in HDAS, etc.) with sense similar to "jism"/"jasm".

Any thoughts?

-- Doug Wilson



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