LL-L "Etymology" 2002.12.07 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 07.DEC.2002 (03) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic
               V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

I wrote:

> Let's not forget that Scottish and American English, too, has "pinky
> (finger)" ~ "pinkie (finger)" for "little finger," assumedly emanating
from
> Scots _pink(ie)_, and that American English got it from Scottish
immigrants.
>
> In Scots, besides "little finger," _pinkie_ and (earlier?) _pink_ can
denote
> anything small, also 'narrowed', 'peering' and 'winking' of eyes (cf.
Dutch
> _pinken_ 'to wink'), and in addition the verb: intransitively denoting 'to
> fall' (of small objects, such as drops), and transitively denoting 'to
> strike with a small object so as to make a sharp, piercing sound.'

Please also consider Afrikaans _pinkie_ (equivalent of Dutch _pinkje_, i.e.,
a diminutive derivation of _pink_) ‘small finger’

I further wonder if this etymological group is based on onomatopoetic
*_pink_ for the sound of something small dropping (much like English
 “ping”), thus the shift *“small sound” > *“small” > “small thing” + “doing
something small”.  Please also consider Lowlands Saxon (Low German)
_pinkeln_ ‘to urinate’, assumedly an iterative derivation of *_pinken_ (cf.
Dutch _pinken_ and Scots _tae pink_), i.e., /pink-l-/ *“to produce a series
of something small” > “to produce a series of sounds of drops falling” (cf.
also Danish _pinke_ and Swedish _pinka_ ‘to urinate’, according to the
_Herkunftsduden_).  _Pinkeln_ has also been borrowed into (“High”) German
(because it would begin with _pf..._ if it had undergone the German shift),
though the _Herkunftsduden_ makes no mention of this borrowing and
attributes _pinkeln_ to children’s language _pi(e)-_ and its derivations
(cf. English ‘to pee’), which I take with a massive grain of salt.

Please consider as a parallel case English onomatopoetic “ping” describing
something small (especially something metallic, such as a ring or a coin)
producing a sound upon impact when falling or when being struck (such as a
small bell).  Though I cannot attest to the existence of a simple verbal
derivative *_pingen_ (*/piN-/ *“to make the sound ‘ping’ once”), I know that
Lowlands Saxon has the iterative derivation _pingeln_ (/piN-l-/ “to make the
sound ‘ping’ several times” =) ‘to ring’ (also _anpingeln_ “to ring on” =
‘to ring a doorbell’) and the nominal form _Pingel_ ‘(small) bell’,
‘doorbell’ (as opposed to _beiern_ ‘to ring’ in reference to a large bell,
_Klock_, _beiern_ also denoting ‘to swing’, such as the motion of a
pendulum).  In this connection please also consider Dutch _pingelen_ ‘to
haggle’ and _pingelaar_ ‘haggler’, perhaps originally referring to an
itinerant salesperson that announced his or her arrival by ringing a bell.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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