[Ads-l] "Lagniappe" (slight antedating, 1846)

[Laurence Horn]

Is the suggested etymology at the Wiki-entry and alluded to in the spelling “la gniappe” in one of Bonnie’s early cites--

Lagniappe is derived from the South American Spanish phrase la yapa or ñapa (referring to a free extra item, usually a very cheap one). La is the definite article in Spanish as well as in French (la ñapa or la gniappe = the ñapa/gniappe). The term has been traced back to the Quechua word yapay ('to increase; to add’).

-- widely accepted? I’ve seen “o.o.o.” elsewhere, and the OED splits the difference, including the Spanish “la ñapa” part of the derivation, but not the Quechua verb.  Either way, the earlier Spanish version makes “lagniappe” another member of the reanalyzed borrowed definite article club (algebra, alcohol, apricot, lute, et al.).  The local (New Haven) version of “pizza”—“apizza”, pronounced a-BEETS, from the Campanian pronunciation of “la pizza”—is a tasty member of the same club.  

Unclear to me where the ñ came from, but it’s a short step from “ya” to "ña”.  Maybe the ñ is just a lagniappe.   

LH.


> On Apr 2, 2021, at 7:01 PM, ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Excellent citations, Bonnie. Below is an incremental advance. The text
> of the earliest citation you found appeared nine days earlier in a New
> Orleans newspaper.
> 
> Date: July 20, 1846
> Newspaper: New Orleans Weekly Delta
> Newspaper Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
> Article: From the Seat of War - Correspondence of "The Daily Delta"
> Quote Page 320 (8), Column 1
> Database: GenealogyBank
> Note: Asterisks are used as delimiters to indicate italics
> 
> [Begin excerpt]
> The same music and noise is now heard in the camp of the 7th Infantry
> below us--ta-ta-ta-ra-ra-ra-ta-ta-r-r goes the shrill noise of the
> trumpet among the Dragoons--bum-bum-bum is bellowed out by old "Rough
> and Ready" at the fort, which is answered by the little 6s in each
> regiment, followed with three times three, and three for *la gniappe*,
> from 10,000 mouths, which reverberates and echoes along the banks of
> the Rio Grande.
> [End excerpt]
> 
> Garson
> 
> On Fri, Apr 2, 2021 at 4:55 PM Bonnie Taylor-Blake
> <b.taylorblake at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> I've lately been attracted to odd American words and phrases that appeared
>> before the Civil War. As many of you know, however, it's sometimes
>> difficult to search for these things, given the diversity of spellings.
>> 
>> With that caveat, I've gathered some early appearances of "lagniappe,"
>> below. (The OED's earliest example is from 1849.) I suspect some of you
>> will do better. The OED shares the variants "lagnappe," "lanyap,"
>> "lanyappe," and "lanyope," but creative speller-searchers here may find
>> still earlier and unanticipated forms.
>> 
>> (Note that I've also tacked on, as lagniappe, an 1842 usage in a
>> French-language newspaper published in New York City. I think I should get
>> a little credit for it, though, since -- of "la gniappe" -- the writer
>> specifies "comme disent les Louisianais.")
>> 
>> -- Bonnie
>> 
>> -----------------------------------
>> 
>> (Asterisks below indicate italicized text.)
>> 
>> The same music and noise is now heard in the camp of the 7th Infantry below
>> us -- ta-ta-ta-ra-ra-ra-ta-ta-r-r goes the shrill noise of the trumpet
>> among the Dragoons -- bum-bum-bum is bellowed out by old "Rough and Ready"
>> at the fort, which is answered by the little 6s in each regiment, followed
>> with three times three, and three for *la gniappe*, from 10,000 mouths,
>> which reverberates and echoes along the banks of the Rio Grande. (From
>> "Fourth July at Matamoras [sic]," The Missippippi Democrat [Carrollton], 29
>> July 1846, p. 1. This is prefaced with "Correspondence of the N.O. Delta."
>> No idea what "little 6s" are -- horns, guns?)
>> 
>> When Mr. Hunt concluded, the meeting, on motion, adjourned, giving three
>> loud cheers and one by way of *lagniappe* for the cause. (From "WHIG
>> MEETING; Nomination of Delegates to the Whig National Convention," The
>> Northern Standard [Clarksville, Texas], 22 April 1848, p. 2. A note at the
>> top of the article reports, "From the Delta." Presumably "the Delta" is New
>> Orleans's Daily Delta or Weekly Delta.)
>> 
>> When a democratic General Council (if *ever* we have another of that
>> political character) in appointing commissioners, shall select sixty out of
>> the sixty-three against which the whigs can find no reasonable objection,
>> we will consent without grumbling to allow them to retain the odd three,
>> however obnoxious they may be, and throw them in as *lagniappe*. (From "The
>> Late Election," Daily Crescent [New Orleans], 12 November 1849, p. 2.)
>> 
>> Thomas Elworth a complété et gagné hier le pari accepté par lui de faire
>> 1,000 milles en mille heures consécutives, à Cambridge près de Boston. Il
>> avait gangé à 4 heures du matin et a fait encore un mille par heure jusqu'à
>> 5 heures du soir; c'était pour *la gniappe*, comme disent les Louisianais.
>> (From "Un Rude Marcheur," in "Fait Divers," Courrier des Etats-Units [New
>> York City], 8 October 1842, p. 2.)
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org