LL-L "Names" 2003.02.22 (09) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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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
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Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Names" 2003.02.22 (03) [E]

Holger wrote (to Ron):

"I doubt Your translation of _Brunswik_ as "Bruno's Bay" because I believe
_wik_ to be the same old word for a village-centre with a church as we have
it in East-Frisian (for example in the "Brookmerbrief", an ancient
collection of laws).
In nowadays Eastern Friesland Low Saxon however a "wîk" is a canal resp.
the
way and the settlement besides a canal. You often find this word in street
names of the "Fehn"-villages (in the Germanized version _Wieke_).
I don't know the etymology but I could imagine that old Frisian _wic_ and
Low Saxon _wîk_ only sound similar by incident but don't have the same
root."

Interesting! When I first saw "Brunswick" I gave it the folk etymology of
"brown-coloured village" based on the similarity of "Brun-" to "brown" and
of course, "wick" to a pan-Germanic cognate meaning "village" or
"settlement" (the "village-centre" that Holger describes above). I realise
this doesn't make any real sense but folk etymologies rarely do and it
explained the origin away for me at the time.

Incidentally, I would imagine that, if "Brunswick" had occured in England or
Scotland, it would have developed into something like "Brunswich"  -
[br at nzwitS] or [br at n.nitS].

Go raibh maith agat

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