LL-L: "Etymology" LOWLANDS-L, 07.SEP.2001 (01) [E]

[Sandy Fleming]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 07.SEP.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:  Pat Karl

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Etymology
>
> Dear Lowlanders,
>
> Here is one for you to chew over - no pun intended - while I am
globetrotting.
>
> The other day I came across the word "benny seeds" meaning "sesame seeds"
in
> an American English dialect of South Carolina.  In the meantime I found
out
> that this is the usual term in Bahamian English as well.
>
> Here are a few questions and guesses:
>
> (1) Is this or a similar word used in Gullah (an African-English hybrid of
> South Carolina)?
>
> (2) Is this or a similar word used in other English varieties?
>
> (3) Can you use "benny" for "sesame" by itself (without "seeds")?
>
> (4) Am I right in assuming that the word is of West African origin?*
>
> *Mandinka has _benoo_ for 'sesame'. Compare African-derived American
English
> food words such as "goober" for "peanut" (cf. Kongo _nguba_).

The Webster's New World Dictionary (1964) has the following entry:

   benne (ben'i) n [Malay bijen, seed], the sesame, an East Indian
   plant whose seeds yield an oil used like olive oil.

Regards,
Pat

----------

1) "benne" is the standard South Carolina Low Country <<laag land>> term for
sesame
seed.

2) I am no expert on Gullah, but I think that the Mandinka "benne" or a very
closely
related coastal West African language is indeed the source of the Carolina
Lowland "benne." Your reference to the Congo origins of "goober" for
"peanut"
raises another
question in my mind. Can any of the Nederlands readers of LOWLANDS-L shed
light on the origins of "pinda" for the English "peanut?"

PS. As a former resident of Brooklyn, NY with a strong interest in Lowlands
Scots who lives in the heart of Southern Appalachia and has recently been
learning Nederlands and visited Breukelen, Utrecht and Amsterdam, I have
been
reading LOWLANDS-L with great interest.

Groetjes aan uw en alle andere Laaglanders,

Richard Blaustein
1303 Buffalo Street
Johnson City TN 37604
USA
rblaustein at aol.com

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