LL-L "Etymology" 2004.08.11 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 11.AUG.2004 (08) * 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: Stella en Henno <stellahenno at hetnet.nl>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2004.08.11 (05) [E/German]

> Folks,
>
> Franz points out that there is a hypothesis that Low Franconian (and
> Frisian) _aak_ ‘barge’ (specifically a river barge used to transport heavy
> loads) was created by reanalyzing the initial /n/ in earlier _naak_ as
> belonging to the preceding article (much like North Saxon _Mors_ < _Maars_
<
> _...m Aars_, or _Naars_ < _...n Aars_ ‘arse’, ‘ass’), and Franz invites
our
> input.
>
> I responded by saying that this seems plausible or possible, considering
> words for ‘barge’ such as German _Nachen_, Old English _naca_ and Old
Norse
> _nǫkkvi_.  The _Herkunftsduden_ speculates that these are related to “Old
> Indian” (Vedic Sanskrit?) नागः _nāga-h_ ‘tree’ (thus the idea of a boat
made
> from a hollowed-out tree trunk, a dug-out canoe).
>
> Interestingly, the North Saxon dialects of Lowlands Saxon (Low German)
have
> _aken_ (<Aken> ['?Q:kN]) for 'barge'!
>
> Gruß/Regards,
> Reinhard/Ron

To name two other examples of this phenomenon: West Frisian "aad" [a:t]
which is some
sort of holder for milk (farmer's word) < *nardo (which existed in Old
Saxon), where
the spelling is non-etymological (normally we'd have the -r in there, even
though r before d
is not pronounced anymore in West Frisian, eg kaard = [ka:t]), and a is
lengthened before rd, which is regular.
In Dutch and English one has "adder" (for the snake), while German has
"natter" and
West Frisian "njirre" (< *ne:dere), which are related to Latin natrix (water
snake) etc.

There are probably more examples, but these came to mind.

Regards

Henno Brandsma

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