LL-L: "Morphophonology" LOWLANDS-L, 06.MAY.2000 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: Family Lindley [john at lindley-york.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L: "Morphophonology" LOWLANDS-L, 05.MAY.2000 (03) [E]

Hi

I understand that the plural 'childer' is/was known in Isle of Man English.

In connection with -en plurals, 'housen' was known in East Anglia until a
couple of generations ago, and the pronunciation not dissimilar to that
of Dutch 'huizen', but with the 'n' being pronounced.

John Lindley
Wigginton
York.

| From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
| Subject: Morphology
|
| "Children", interestingly, is not a straightforward example of the
retention
| of an old plural form. According to "Chambers" the original OE nom pl of
| "cild" was "cild". Around 975 CE the nom pl form "cildru" developed and
| around 1175 the form "children", under the influence of the "-en" model
| found in "brethren". I can't remember offhand how common "-en" plurals
were
| in ME.
|
| I believe the plural "childer" exists in some BE dialects.

----------

From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Morphology

Ed's etymological ideas are always stimulating but two etymological
dictionaries prefer the idea that "cop" probably derives from L. "capere",
"captum" (whence "capture", "captive").

The derivation of  "cobweb" was new to me. Chambers etymological dictionary
derives it from ME "coppe" (spider) + "web". "Coppe" is a reduced form of
"attorcoppe" (spider) from "attor" (poison) + "coppe" which is "possibly
from "copp" top, head, of uncertain origin".

Chambers Dictionary (a totally separate book) lists "attercop" as "obsolete
or dialect" and says that the second element is "perhaps cop (head) or
"copp" (cup)". It also lists "cop" as meaning the top or head of anything
and gives the OE cognates "cop, copp".

More excitement: G. "Kopf" and Du. "kop" seem to come from LL. "cuppa",
cup,
drinking vessel. The meaning "head" came via the intermediate sense of
"cranium" (Duden). Was this because of real or imagined drinking from
skulls? Fr. "tête" and Sp. "testa" in this sense come about in just the
same
way, according to Hachette. I have read the alternative idea that "head"
gets called "pot" because it's fragile and carried on the shoulders.

Coincidentally, I recently heard on a TV quiz (one of the more serious
kind)
that Cyprus is so-called because copper was found there. Actually the metal
is named after the island.

John Feather
johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

----------

From: john feather [johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk]
Subject: Morphology

Henry Sweet's "First Middle English Primer" contains the text of the
"Ancren
Riwle" (roughly translatable as "A Guide for the Female Hermit"), dating
from the early 13th century and written in the ME descendant of Late
West-Saxon, which was spoken in the S and SW of England.

According to this, "-en" was the normal plural ending in all cases (gen pl
had an additional "-e" but it was often dropped) of all nouns except strong
masculine and strong neuter (which took "-es", though with some
variations).
Interesting examples quoted are "süster" (sister) -> "süstren", "ei"
(egg) -> "eiren" (the "e" in "ei(-)" should have accents). I think Chaucer
mentions an innkeeper's wife (in Kent?) who calls some customers "French"
(probably "bloody French") because they ask for "eggs" instead of "eiren".

I must apologise to Henry Sweet for previously attributing his "Anglo-Saxon
Reader" to Wright, who was responsible for the OUP's textbooks on Gothic,
MHG, etc.

John Feather
johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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