LL-L "Etymology" 2003.07.11 (03) [D/E/LS/Norwegian]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 11.JUL.2003 (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) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: Theo Homan <theohoman at yahoo.com>
Subject: etymologie

Reinhard,

Zou je voor een nitwit als ik weer eens een beetje
uitleg kunnen geven.
En wel over het woord slumpen.
Wat weet je over dit woord, etymologie, enz.

vriendelijke dank,
Theo Homan
)sorry, maar vraagtekens en andere leestekens doen het
al een tijdje niet op mijn toetsenbord|

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> leyve lüyd' so as Du niks slumpen [gelukken, slagen]
> kun.

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

Beste Theo,

> En wel over het woord slumpen.
> Wat weet je over dit woord, etymologie, enz.

"Nitwit"?!  Jij?!  Dit moet een grapje zijn.  En je schijnt ook te veel van
mij te verwachten. Maar ik zal het eens proberen ...  hoewel in het engels
om iedereen te reiken.

Theo wishes to know more about the Lowlands Saxon (Low German) verb
_slumpen_ ['slU.mp=m] 'to succeed', 'to work out', 'to be sucessfully
completed', 'to be worthwhile', 'to be profitable'.

I am not really sure about the origin of this verb.  I do know for sure that
there is a related noun: _slump_ (_Slump_) [slU.mp] 'lucky strike', 'luck',
'fortunate coincident'.

This appears to be related to Scandinavian equivalents with pretty much the
same meaning, e.g., Norwegian _slump_ (Bokmål: tilfelle, (heldig) treff
'komme over noe ved en ren s- / på s-' etter løst skjønn; på lykke og
fromme; Nynorsk: hende; tilfelle, (heldig) treff 'det var reine s-en at eg
fann det att / på s-'  på det uvisse, på måfå), as well as the verb _slumpe_
(Bokmål: gjøre noe på slump s- i vei , inntreffe tilfeldig, hende 'det kunne
jo s- vi møttes / s- til ' hende tilfeldig; Nynorsk: gjere noko på slump s-
i veg / s- på vekta, hende; kome, nå ved eit tilfelle det kan vel s- at vi
møtest / s- fram med noko buse ut med noko, tale tankelaust / s- til hende,
bere til tilfeldig).  _Slump_ can also denote 'accumulation', 'gathering' in
Norwegian (e.g., Nynorsk: (god) del; mengd, samling 'tene ein (god) s-
pengar '), also in Southern Jutish (synnejysk/sønderjysk), as in the
folksong "Go jaften, go jaften, tesammes i æ slump!" ("Good evening, good
evening, together in the gathering (= everyone in the at the dance party)".
However, I have no idea if _slump_ 'luck' and _slump_ 'gathering' are in any
way related.  Also, I do not know if Lowlands Saxon borrowed these words
from Scandinavian or Scandinavian borrowed them from Lowlands Saxon.  My
hunch is that the former is the case, which might also explain why there
seem to be no Dutch equivalents.

Interestingly, Scots has _slump_: verbal 'to lump together', nominal
'marsh'.  A Scandinavian loan?  Probably.

There is another LS noun _slump_ (_Slump_) meaning 'lanky, awkward lout (who
tends to slump when he sits?)'.  This may well be related to English
"slump".  Etymological sources consider the origin of English "slump"
uncertain, tend to assume that it came from Scandinavian.

Might all of these be somehow connected with the original, basic meanings
*"lump" *"heap"? *"bunch"?  Might this be one of those cases with ancient
*s- prefixing (lump > slump)?

As usual, questions beget more questions.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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