LL-L: "Etymology" [E] LOWLANDS-L, 11.OCT.1999 (01a)

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From: Lowlands Administrator <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Sorry, Lowlanders.  This one got away.  Here is the complete version.

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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From: Anja Meyfarth [AMeyfarth at t-online.de]
Subject: "Etymology"

Hello Lowlands-L

Reinhard wrote:

> The more "sophisticated" German word for 'shrimp' is _Garnele_ (cf. Dutch
> _garnaal_), but Northern _Krabbe_ seems to have spread southward.

There is another word for the shrimps of the North Sea, today almost only
used by the fishermen: "Granat", perhaps because of the colour.

Anja

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Dear Lowlanders,

Anja wrote:

> There is another word for the shrimps of the North Sea, today almost only
> used by the fishermen: "Granat", perhaps because of the colour.

Do you mean because of the color of the _Granat_ 'garnet', or of the
_Granatapfel_ 'pomegranate'?  It is ultimately related to 'grain', thus 'small'
(> garnet = 'grain-like').

Switch of topic:

Perhaps some of you can help me by explaining the etymology of the noun
_*dööntje_, a diminutive derivation from *_döön_.

In Modern Low Saxon (Low German) dialects, _dööntje_ ~ _döntje_ ['dø:ntje] ~
['dœ:ntje] ~ ['dø:nce] ~ ['dœ:nce] ~ etc. has not neuter gender (as would be
expected of a diminutive) but has either masculine or feminine gender, depending

on the dialect.  This in itself leads me to suspect that it was originally a
loanword, most likely a Frisian or Dutch loanword, whose diminutive derivation
was not apparent to speakers of Low Saxon (most of whom knew _-ke(n)_ instead,
Slavic-derived _-ink_ ~ _-ing_ farther east, though _-tje_ is also found in some

(older? loan?) words).  What is particularly interesting to me is that in Low
Saxon (and in the hybrid LS-German Missingsch) the word means something like
'anecdote', 'amusing or entertaining story'.  (Unfortunately, many people in
Germany still feel that telling _dööntjes_ is all Low Saxon is good for, and
this is why you come across the word a lot.)  Its meaning is different in other
Lowlands languages.

I have come across _deuntsje_ in pre-contemporary Westerlauwer ("West") Frisian,

for instance in the famous _Lieaft in Bortlyck Mingel-Deuntsjes_ ("Mixed Songs
of Love and Jest") by Gysbert Japicx (~ Japiks, 1603-1666), and it seems to mean

'song' in all cases, probably 'ditty' in a more extended sense (the diminutive
indicating short duration and perhaps absence of seriousness).  However, so far
I have not come across it in Modern WL Frisian texts and dictionaries.

Of course, in Dutch you have the word _deun_ [dø:n] and its diminutive
derivative _deuntje_ ['dø:ntj@], and there is Afrikaans _deuntjie_ ['dø:nkji] ~
['dø:nci], all of which denote 'tune', 'air', 'ditty'.  (I can not find
Afrikaans *_deun_ though.)

Here are my specific questions:

Firstly, "What is the common origin of the above words?"  Might it be *_doon_
(or *_dôn_) as a derivative of Latin _tonus_ 'tightening/stress (of a string)',
'sound (produced by the plucking of a string)'; also Greek _tónos_) to which
also English _tone_ ultimately goes back?  Of course, we also have the hitherto
apparently unexplained semantic Middle English and Modern English offshoot
_tune_.  However, would we not then expect *_töön_ < *_toon(e)_?  We do find
that _tonus_ had been converted to both _tôn_ and _dôn_ in Middle High German,
so *_t-_ > _d-_ was possible.  But what provoked umlauting in the languages in
question?  *_döön_ < *_döön at _ < *_dône_ < *_dôno_?

Secondly, "Is Low Saxon _dööntje_ a loanword, and if so, from which language?"

Thirdly, "What way did the semantic shift go, and what provoked it?"  For now I
am assuming that 'air' and 'ditty' came first, and '(amusing) tale' developed
from it.  Even if _dööntje_ is not a loanword, did Low Saxon change its meaning
(sung > spoken) because of an ancient close or even inseparable association
between 'song' and 'tale', because tales have been traditionally performed as
chants or songs (as they still are among numerous peoples of the world,
especially where literacy is uncommon).

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

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