LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 08.NOV.1999 (02) [D/E]

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From: Floor van Lamoen [f.v.lamoen at wxs.nl]
Subject: LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 07.NOV.1999 (05) [E]

> From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
> Subject: Etymology
>
> A couple of weeks ago Jasmin Harvey wrote:
>
> >Actually, the _-ing_ of 'morning' makes me think of the  _-end_ in
> _ochtend_, as in lachend = laughing, slapend = sleeping... So a present
> participle used as an adjective/noun ("He's running" / "He's the
> running man"/ "He's in the running")?<
>
> I've just bought "Chambers Dictionary of Etymology". It's a reprint of the
> "Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology" and retains US spellings. I chose it over
> the "Oxford Etymological Dictionary" because it routinely gives dates for
> the first recorded occurrences of words (and is much cheaper!).
>
> CDE gives "morning" as "morn" + "-ing" (ca 1330) on the  model of earlier
> "evening" (pre-1200). It distinguishes this "-ing" (cognate with Du. "-ing",
> G. "-ung") from the present participle suffix "-ing", cognate with Du./G.
> "-end".
>
> Where does this leave the end/"-end" of Du. "ochtend"? De Vries simply says
> "ochtend - met d-toevoeging uit mnl. "ochten", "uchten", which doesn't seem
> to help.
>
> John Feather johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

Hi, John,

In addition to De Vries, WNT gives some etymology which states that it
is not correct to think of 'ochtend' as a present particle. I quote:

<begin quote>
Etym.
Ochtend en uchtend zijn sinds lang de gebruikelijke vormen in de
schrijftaal. In de spreektaal echter wordt de t niet gehoord;
men zegt altijd ochend. Die vorm is inderdaad ouder en echter. Uit goth.
uhtvô ontstond de oorspronkelijke Nederl. vorm ochte, uchte, of ocht,
ucht (verg. osaks. uhta, nnd. ucht). Ocht en ucht verliepen in de
volkstaal tot ochend en uchend, door de inschuiving der n, evenals naakt
tot nakend, tachtig tot tachentig overging, en boekweiten eerst boekete,
vervolgens boekende (gort) werd. Maar nevens de volksuitspraak ochend en
uchend bleef ochte, uchte, bestaan, ook wel ochten, uchten geschreven.
Geen wonder, dat allengs de beide vormen dooreenliepen, en men de t van
ochten, uchten ook in ochend en uchend overbracht, waarin zij eigenlijk
niet behoorde, omdat zij reeds in de d was uitgedrukt. Zoo ontstond de
schrijfwijze ochtend en uchtend, die later nog te meer geijkt werd door
de gewaande etymologische verklaring, volgens welke men in ochtend het
tegenw. deelw. meende te zien van een verzonnen ww. ochten, dat een
intensief zou geweest zijn van mnl. oeken, vermeerderen, zoodat ochtend
eigenlijk den tijd van den vermeerderenden of toenemenden dag zou
aanduiden.
<end quote>

It is surprising that both the English and the Dutch forms are written
the same as present particles. Dutch has the word _avond_ though...

Best regards,
Floor.

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