LL-L: "Etymology" (was "Language varieties") LOWLANDS-L, 20.MAR.2000 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L Administrator]

 =======================================================================
 L O W L A N D S - L * 20.MAR.2000 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
 Posting Address: <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>
 Web Site: <http://www.geocities.com/sassisch/rhahn/lowlands/>
 User's Manual: <http://www.lsoft.com/manuals/1.8c/userindex.html>
 =======================================================================
 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic
 =======================================================================

From: Jan De Craemere [rycobel at compuserve.com]
Subject: LL-L: LOWLANDS-L, 18.MAR.2000 (04) [E/D/F/French]

Peter Stornebring said:

>The word "lytje" reminded me of the Frisian word "lyts", as used, for
>example, in the expression:
>"in lyts bytsje", "een klein beetje", "un petit peu".
>
>I wonder if Flemish "lytje" might be related to the Frisian "lyts"

Wouldn't that be the same word as 'little' in English and 'liten' in
Swedisch.
Is this from Scandinavian origin?

Jan De Craemere.

----------

From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Etymology

Peter Stornebrink wrote:

>The word "lytje" reminded me of the Frisian word "lyts", as used, for
>example, in the expression:
>"in lyts bytsje", "een klein beetje", "un petit peu".
>
>I wonder if Flemish "lytje" might be related to the Frisian "lyts"

Peter,

Those are most certainly related.  _Lytje_ is the diminutive form of *_lyt_
(which may no longer exist).  You find it preserved in Scandinavian, e.g.
in Norwegian _lite_ 'little (amount)', _liten_ 'little'.  English _little_
is also a diminutive derivation (< Old English _l{y^}tel_).  Pre-Modern
German has _lützel_ (< Old High German _luzzil_).  It is not used in
Standard German.  In the majority of Low Saxon (Low German) dialects,
certainly in most North Saxon ones, the normal word for 'little' or 'small'
is _lütt_ [lYt] (e.g., _de lütte Jung_ 'the little boy').  The Old Saxon
diminutive derivation _luttil_ does not have a direct descendant in any
Modern Low Saxon I know of.  Some farwestern dialects of North Saxon have
_lütt_ like most other dialects (e.g., _'n lütt beten_ 'a little bit', _De
Jung is lütt_ 'The boy is little') but use what seems like a diminutive
form in inflections (e.g., _De lüttje Jung_ 'the little boy'; elsewhere _de
lütte Jung_).  This _lüttje_ is most definitely a cognate of Flemish
_lytje_.  The hypothetical Germanic root of all of these is *_lut-_.

By the way, who is the "y" in _lytje_ pronounced?

Regards,

Reinhard/Ron

==================================END===================================
 You have received this because your account has been subscribed upon
 request. To unsubscribe, please send the command "signoff lowlands-l"
 as message text from the same account to
 <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or sign off at
 <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 =======================================================================
 * Please submit contributions to <lowlands-l at listserv.linguistlist.org>.
 * Contributions will be displayed unedited in digest form.
 * Please display only the relevant parts of quotes in your replies.
 * Commands for automated functions (including "signoff lowlands-l") are
   to be sent to <listserv at listserv.linguistlist.org> or at
   <http://linguistlist.org/subscribing/sub-lowlands-l.html>.
 * Please use only Plain Text format, not Rich Text (HTML) or any other
   type of format, in your submissions
 =======================================================================