LL-L "Etymology" 2003.04.01 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 01.APR.2003 (01) * 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) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Lowlanders,

It tends to be the "small" words that give away if someone's Lowlands Saxon
(Low German) is _Patentplatt_, i.e., is "faked" on the basis of German.

I can only give you examples for the North Saxon dialects here, because
other standards apply in the other dialect groups.

One example would be the use of _wer_ for 'who' that I have come across
quite a few times lately. This is clearly ("High") German. In North Saxon
dialects you would have to say _wokeen_ (_woukeyn_ [vo.U'kE.In]) or
shortened _keen_. (Yes, the latter can coincide with _keen_ [kE.In] 'no
...', 'none', but the difference tends to be clear within a given context.)
Subjectively, you can also say _wen_ [vE.n] 'whom', in some dialects
objectively ('who') as well.

What I really wanted to talk about, actually ask about, is the LS word
_mang_ (~ _mank_ [ma.Nk]) 'among'. People who make up Lowlands Saxon on the
basis of German will often say _ünner_ 'under' instead, because German
_unter_ 'under' also means 'among', or they will say _twüschen_, because
German _zwischen_ means both 'between' and 'among'; e.g.,

German: Unter/Zwischen hundert kenne ich ihn heraus.
LS: Mang hunnerd kenn ik em ruut.
(* Ünner/Twüschen hunnerd kenn ik em ruut.)
I can tell/pick him from among a hundred.

As you can probably tell, LS _mang_ seems to be related to English "among"
and Scots _amang_ (< _emong_ ~ _imong_ < _ymong_ < _onmang_ < Old English
_on gemang_ "in a crowd/throng").

I believe that these words are related to umlauted forms (e = ä < a) such as
German _Menge_ 'crowd', 'amount', 'number (of)', _Menggut_ 'mixture (of
things)', _vermengen_ 'to mix', 'to blend', LS _Menggood_ ~ _Mengels_ ~
_Mengsel_ ~ _Mengelmoos_ 'mixture (of things)', 'blend', _(ver)mengen_ ~
_mengeleren_ 'to mix', 'to blend', Dutch _(ver)mengen_ 'to mix', 'to blend',
_mengsel_ ~ _mengelmoes_ 'mixture', 'blend' (same of similar forms in
Afrikaans), Scots _ming_ 'mixture', 'blend', 'mix-up', 'confusion', and
English "to mingle".

My question (besides if we can elaborate on the etymology) is if cognates of
LS _mang_, English "among" and Scots _amang_ exist in other Lowlands
language varieties.

As far as I can tell, Dutch and Afrikaans use _tussen_and Westerlauwer
Frisian _tusken_ for 'among' , meaning also 'between'.

Might this _mang_/"among"/_amang_ thing be a Saxon feature?

Thanks for thinking about it.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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