LL-L "Etymology" 2004.09.14 (06) [D/E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 14.SEP.2004 (06) * 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: john feather <johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk>
Subject: ETYMOLOGY

Mark Dreyer wrote re "skate":

"I rather think the term goes back to the ancestor of all these tongues. I
wager it was a skill practiced long before Teutons came to Britain, & they
brought it & the word (& the pronunciation) for it with them."

I can throw all my etymological dictionaries away then! But before I do
here's De Vries on "schaats". After dismissing the conventional explanation
that it is from Northern French "echasse" (stilt) 'cos it's hard to see how
the word got transferred from one thing to the other the entry continues:
"Nu is er een eng. _skate_, dat uit het fri. [fries?] kan zijn overgenomen.
Men zou van een woord voor 'lang smal stuk hout' kunnen uitgaan: vgl. on.
_skata_ 'vleet d.i. vis met lange, smalle staart', nnoorw. _skate_ 'boomstam
zonder takken'."

So De Vries thinks E "skate" is from Frisian (unfortunately "fri." is one of
the abbreviations used but not elucidated) and also that the basic meaning
is "long thin thing" and the flatfish is so-called because it has a long,
thin tail. It looks as though De Vries has simply confused "skate" with
"stake", because there is a Nor word "stake" meaning "pole/stake/pale" which
fits his definition reasonably well. But then ...

But then the magpies turn up (in the plural because one is unlucky!).
"Skate" is a dialect word in Nor for "magpie" (cf Dan "skade", Sw "skata")
and magpies also have long tails! And "skate" has some connexion (which I
haven't quite worked out) with dry spruce trees without branches (or
something like that - my Nor dictionary seems to be a bit too basic).

So I think "skate" comes from people (maybe those Danes in Beowulf?) in
black clothes skating down long thin canals against a white winter
background. In fact I'm convinced of it.

John Feather   johnfeather at sceptic1.freeserve.co.uk

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