LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 16.MAY.2001 (01) [D/E/LS]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 16.MAY.2001 (01) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans, Ap=Appalachean, D=Dutch, E=English, F=Frisian, L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German), S=Scots, Sh=Shetlandic, Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Dear Lowlanders,

A while ago, under "Help needeed," I asked for help with translations from
Groningen Low Saxon.  Thanks for all the help I got.  There was one loose
end:

I wrote:

> lebait
> Meaning?

Henry Pijffers wrote:

>> lebait
>> Meaning?
> Don't have a clue.

Arjan Kuiper wrote:

>> lebait
>> Meaning?
> Also haven't got a clue about what this means.

Berend Klönne wrote:

>> lebait
>> Meaning?
> (Kon wel Winschoter bargoens (joods) zijn. Daar is een site van.

The mystery has been solved.  I got it from the horse's mouth, i.e., in a
letter from Haarm Diek (known as Ubbo-Derk Hakholt as a Dutch language
writer), the poet in one of whose works ("Wat" ["Something"]) I found the
word in this context:

<...>
t Aarmste verdrait: dat ik nait wait,
wat t wezen ken. k Vuil mie lebait:
der mist mie wat en t is der nait.

He explains:
"Uit het Nieuw Groninger Woordenboek van K. ter Laan haal ik het volgende
over _lebait_. Het woord is aa het kaartspel ontleend, aan het Franse _il
est la bête_ = hij is beest; hij heeft geen enkele slag. Het komt als
leenwoord ook in het Duitse voor. Het betekent: ziekelijk, ongesteld, niet
in orde, zwak. Eigen aantekening: veel van dergelijke Franse leenwoorden
hoort men vooral in streken, waar tweehonderd jaar geleden een Frans
garizon heeft gelegen of anderzins - bijvoorbeeld door amptenaren - veel
Franse invloed is geweest."

So I believe the part of the poem could be roughly translated as ...

<...>
What really bugs me is that I don’t know
what it could be. I feel beaten:
I’m missing something and don’t find it.

Suggestions are welcome.

So we are dealing with a French loanword. Many such loans entered Low Saxon
(Low German) dialects directly in areas of today's Eastern Netherlands and
Northern Germany that were under French occupation in the early 19th
century. Apparently, _lebait_  comes from _ il est la bête_ "he is the
beast" = 'he is the fool' = 'he gets the booby prize' = 'he is beat' in
card games.  (Like some of the dialects in Northern Germany, Groningen
dialects have /ai/ where other North Saxon dialects have /ei/,
unfortunately mostly written _ee_ in Germany -- thus *_lebeet_ [le'bEIt] if
the word existed.)

Thanks again for your help.

Reinhard/Ron

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