LL-L: "Etymology" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 21.MAY.1999 (03)

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From:  Christian Chiarcos <myrddin at cs.tu-berlin.de>
Subject: Etymology

> From: Christian Chiarcos <myrddin at cs.tu-berlin.de>
> Subject: Etymology
>
> Greetings to all,
>
> I am searching for an etymology of Low.G. beer "boar",
> Mid.L.G. beer or beier (still in place-names), E. boar,
> German Ber (18th c.), OHG. beer.
>
> I only know from my NHG. etymological dictionary, that
> it is   n o t   familar with E. bear, G. Ba%r and it is
> said to have no extra-Germanic etymology. Does anyone
> know something more ?
>
> Are there Northern Germanic forms or Dutch ones ?
>
> May anybody help ?
>
> Christian
>
> ----------
>
> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at geocities.com>
> Subject: Etymology
>
> Dear Lowlanders,
>
> Here is my own postscript to Christian's inquiry above.
>
> Please bear in mind that the German-based spelling of _Beer_ above is
> misleading.  The _ee_ stands for a diphthong which is pronounced [EI] or
[aI],
> depending on the dialect.  So it should really be spelled _beir_ or
_beier_,
> because it is not pronounced with a long [e:] sound.

Dear Ron,

I do not know about the qualities of -ee- in other dialects, but  I think,
among the Eastern Low German (n o t   Low Saxon !)
dialects the [EI], [aI] is usually pronounced
with the same quality as [e:]. The diphthongs only did survive regionally.
cf.  schnee "snow" within "urban" dialects of Mecklenburg, but schnei only
in (very few) rural areas in Central Mecklenburg.
In the Uckermark and Middle Pomerania,  o n l y   [e:] is spoken.
I am not sure about the situation among the Mittelma%rkisch and
Su%dma%rkisch dialects.
In some Low Saxon areas, especially close to the Mecklenburgian border
(Lu%beck), the situation is the same as in Western Mecklenburg.

Greetings

Christian

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