LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.22 (02) [E]

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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: jannie.lawn <jannie.lawn at ntlworld.com>
Subject: LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.22 (09) [D/E]

Beste Laaglanders,
Quote, from Pandora's box (was it indeed Luc van Brabant who wrote all that?
Or did I overlook a name somewhere in the middle?):

'We are not conscious the words ......., "golf ' are from the Dutch.

Interestingly, we just bought a book in the Netherlands about the origin of
golf, at De Slegte (which sells 2ndhand, and 'end of line' books?) .  Two
games that are at the root of the game of golf are the old Dutch game of
'kolf' and the Scottish game of golf, they say.  This is confirmed in a list
I found tonight on the internet with English words which come from Dutch, to
be found at: http://www.internetnow.co.uk/dutchusa/nlusword.htm

Groeten, Jannie

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From: John Duckworth <jcduckworth2003 at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: Language Contacts


Luc sent us all a copy of an article on the contacts between Dutch and
English, the article began thus:

"History has left many a Dutch mark on the English language. There is a
sizeable English vocabulary of Dutch origin, such as beer (bier),frolic
(vrolijk), mate (maat) and pancake (pannekoek) ...".

I have examined the proposed etymologies in this article and found quite a
number that are suspect; I beg your indulgence and what follows are my
alternative suggestions.

BEER : Pure English I am afraid; ME ber < AS bEor. Cognate with other
Germanic forms such as Du. G. Bier (OGH bior).

MATE : ME from MLG (so we could concede it as Du.) mAt. The word is related
to the AS gemetta (guest at one's table) derived from mete (mod. 'meat'),
meaning 'food'. A mate was therefore originally one who ate food with you.

PANCAKE : Though the Dutch make excellent pancakes, I can't see any reason
why such an obvious combination could not have been put together by both
peoples without borrowing. 'Cake' is in any case a Scandinavian loan.

STRAND : ME strand < AS strand, cognate with ON strond (shore).

SLUICE : ME sluse ~ scluse < MFr escluse (ModFr écluse ), < Late Latin
exclusa, fem. of exclusus (excluded).

CANAL : Yes, the Dutch were excellent in buiding canals, but they borrowed
the word from the same source as the English: ME < Lat canalis (pipe,
channel), ultimately < canna (a reed).

HACK : ME hakken < AS haccian. Cf. OHG haccOn (to hack).

YOKE : ME yok < AS geoc.

BUTTER : Why should this be any more from Du than G Butter ? ME < AS butere,
< Lat butyrum < Gk boutyron (< bous [cow] + tyros [cheese]). The other
Germanic cognates are from the same source of course.

BESOM : ME beseme < AS besme. Cf. OHG besmo (broom).

CHEQUE / CHECK : Some like to derive this from the verb 'to check', but
personally I believe it is from the Classical Arabic word Sakk, meaning a
written document used in place of cash. If my idea is correct it would proba
bly have come via Spanish. The French word chèque was apparently borrowed
from English.

LOTTERY : Via MFr loterie < MDu, deriving from lot (a lot; cognate with AS
hlot). So we can concede this as Dutch, even if not direct.

MINT : ME mynt (coin, money) < AS mynet, < Latin moneta. The Romans' mint
was located in the Temple of Juno Moneta, and her title eventually became
our words 'mint' and 'money'. Du. munt, G Münze (coin) come from the same
source.

SWINDLE : the verb is derived from the noun SWINDLER. Most likely from G
Schwindler (a giddy person) < schwindeln (to be dizzy), < OHG swintilOn, a
frequentative form of swintan (to vanish, diminish). Cf. AS swindan (to
vanish), modG verschwinden (to disappear).

DOLLAR : yes, Du or LG daler, < HG T(h)aler. Originally the word was
Joachimsthaler, from Joachimsthal in Bohemia where the Thaler was first
minted.

DIME : The anecdote about the Flemish mathematician is interesting and may
hold some water but the word was already used in ME for 'a tenth part', and
by the time of Simon Stevin modern English was already being spoken and
written. ME dime < OFr disme < Latin decima, fem. form of decimus (tenth).

BOOTY : ME < MLG bUte ~ buite (exchange, distribution : ModG Beute). Hence,
we can consider it Dutch, but it may have been borrowed via the MFr form
butin.

PLUNDER :A word first adopted by English during the Thirty Years War
(1618-48) :  < LG Plündern, < Plünderen (to rob of household effects) < MHG
plunder (household effects, bedclothes). Cf. G Plunder (lumber, trash).

BOWSPRIT : ME bowspret, < MLG bochspret (< boch [bow] + spret [pole]).

KEEL : In the sense of a flat bottomed barge, ME kele is said to be from MDu
kiel, but there was an AS word ceol (ship).

KEEL : In the sense of part of a ship is ME kele < ON kjolr. (Cf. however AS
ceole [the throat of a ship]).

BALLAST : < LG (hence essentially Du anyway), but originally of Scadinavian
origin, thus Da.Sw. barlast.

DOCK : AS docce, cognate no doubt with Mdu docke.

SMUGGLE : more likely from LG smuggeln than from Du smokkelen.

STEER : ME steren < AS stieran.

EBB  : ME ebbe < AS ebba. Cognate with MDu ebbe.

LEE : ME < AS hlEo. Maybe related to OHG lAo (lukewarm), since lee is the
sheltered side of the boat.

WRACK : the earlier and more general meaning in E is 'something washed up on
the shore' or it is synonymous with 'wreck'. A kind of marine vegetation is
the second meaning. ME wrak said to be from MDu / MLG wrak, but AS already
had the word wraec, meaning 'something driven by the sea'.

WALRUS : True, E has borrowed this from Du, but Du borrowed it in turn from
Scandinavian, cf. DaNorw hvalros, < ON hrosshvalr ("horse-whale").

FUCKING : adjective from the verb FUCK. The OED doesn't even speculate on
its origin, but in my humble opinion it is most probably native Anglo-Saxon.
The earliest place it is attested is in a Scots poem of ca. 1503 by William
Dunbar (Yit be his feiris he wald haif fukkit), and many of its subsequent
early appearances are in Scotland. It si obviously cognate with other
Germanic words, such as Du fokken (to breed [of cattle ]), Sw dialect fokka
(to copulate), G ficken (to strike, to copulate with).

CUNT : ME cunte, obviously cognate with MDu/MLG kunte, ON kunta , NorwSw
dial. kunta, Da dial. kunte (female pudenda).

CRAP : ME crappe (chaff, residue from rendered fat) < OFr crappe (chaff,
residue) < MedLat crappa (chaff). Some do suggest a connection with ODu
krappen (to cut off).

SHITE / SHIT : AS scIte < scItan (to defecate).

NETTLE : ME < AS netel ~ netele ~ netle. Du netel, G Nessel ( < OHG nazza)
are cognates.

ANCHOR : ME ancre < AS ancor (< Lat anchora < Gk ankyra).

DIKE / DYKE : It si suggested that it is from ON dIk (a ditch)< or MLG / MDu
dIk (a dam), but AS also had the word dIk, meaning 'ditch'.

ICEBERG : Whether we borrowed this from Scandinavian or from Du directly it
is still Du: G Eisberg, Sw isberg, Da isbjerg were all borrowed from Dutch.

TIDE : ME tide (time) < AS tId. Cognate with Du tijd, G Zeit (time).

ZEBRA : < Port zebra, zebro (a wild ass). Possibly ultimately from Lat
equiferus (a kind of wild horse).

I hope I have not bored you all by going through all these. I think we need
to exercise a good deal of caution when searching for loanwords borrowed
between two languages that are so closely related, and which are in the
habit of borrowing words from the same close neighbours. The suggested
etymologies in the article that I didn't cover above seem to be correct.

Would you believe I wrote all the above once and lost the e-mail due to a
crash, so I had to write it all again. I must need my head seeing to!

Regards,

John
Preston, UK.

PS I take it that the abbreviations I use in the above list are
self-explanatory, so I have avoided providing a key.

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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Language contacts"

> From: jannie.lawn <jannie.lawn at ntlworld.com>
> Subject: LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.09.22 (02) [E]
>
> Beste Laaglanders
>
> Denis Dujardin wrote: Not forgetting to mention that some churches in the
> Norfolk area, have a typical Flemish architecture, which refers to the
> churches of Flemish villages such as Oostkerke and Lissewege.
> There is much more Dutch and Flemish influence in the UK.  Maybe more in
> East Anglia than other areas, as it is closer to the NL and
> Belgium.

In Scotland, "crawstep gables" (crow-step gables) are the normal form of
architecture. These are considered to be of Flemish origin. New buildings in
Scotland are still constructed this way. An example of these can be seen in
this illustration from a Scots novel:
http://scotstext.org/makars/p_hay_hunter/chaipter_11.asp most clearly in the
nearest house on the left.

Sandy
http://scotstext.org/

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