LL-L "Etymology" 2003.04.20 (03) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Dear Lowlanders,

I hope you are all enjoying this weekend's holidays if you celebrate them.

I wonder if anyone can help me identify the etymology of the Lowlands Saxon
(Low German) word _schilderaatsen_ (_Schilderaatsen_ ~ _Schilleraatsen_
[Sil(d)3'rQ:ts=n] = [ʃɪl(d)ɜ'rɒːʦn]) 'painting(s)', often specifically 'wall
painting', 'fresco'.  This is a plural form.  The singular form
_schilderaats_ (_Schilderaats_ ~ _Schilleraats_ [SIl(d)3'rQ:ts] =
[ʃɪl(d)ɜ'rɒːʦ]) is rarely used, in some dialects apparently not at all.

The first part of this apparent compound is not at all problematic. It is
related to the verb _schilderen_ ~ _schildern_ ~ _schillern_ 'to pain't,
used in far-western dialects (Eastern Friesland, Oldenburg, Eastern
Netherlands) as well as in Lowlands Franconian varieties, including Dutch;
cf. also Dutch _schilderij_ 'painting'.  It is derived from the noun
_schild_ 'shield' (< Old English/Old Saxon _sc(i)eld_ < Germanic
*_skelduz_), obviously because warriors' shields tended to have clans' or
tribes' symbols (> coats of arms) painted onto them.  ("High") German uses
the verb _schildern_ in the sense of 'to describe/relate (a story)'.

What is still a mystery to me is the ending _...aats_.  It may well be of
non-native origin, because the sequence _ts_ is non-native if it is within
the same morpheme (which it may be in this case); e.g., _grents_ (_Grenz_ ~
_Grenß_ [grE.n(t)s] = [grɛˑnʦ] ~ [grɛˑns]) 'border' (< German _Grenze_?) <
Slavic *_granica_ < *_gran'_), _tseeg_ (_Zeeg_ ~ _Zääg_ [tse:C] ~ [tsE:C] =
[ʦeːç] ~ [ʦɛːç]) 'goat' (< German _Ziege_ < _ziga_?, cf. native _jit_
(_Jitt_ [jIt] = [jɪt] < Old Saxon _gēt_; cf. Dutch _geit_, German _Geiß_,
Icelandic _geit_), _tsippel_ (_Zippel_ ['tsIp=l] = [ʦɪpl] ~ [sɪpl]) 'onion'
(< Latin _cēpulla_ < _cēpula_ = diminutive of _cēpa_ 'onion').

Might this _...aats_ have developed from an early attempt to render French
_-age_ (> */...aadz@/ > /...aadz/ undergoing final devoicing)?

Thanks for thinking about it.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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