LL-L "History" 2006.04.12 (01) [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 (Zeeuws)
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12 April 2006 * Volume 01
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From: Ingmar Roerdinkholder <ingmar.roerdinkholder at WORLDONLINE.NL>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2006.04.11 (09) [E]

This is the same situation that is still going on in many "Third World"
countries: I know a lot of girls and young women, especially from Africa,
who told me exactly the same... Groets, Ingmar

Ron wrote:
>My assumption is that names for "girl" came to be quasi-euphemisms for
>"(female) servant."  Besides, the two tended to be the same in most
medieval
>and earlier communities.  With the exception of well-protected upper-class
>girls, all girls were used as unpaid or cheap labor, first in their homes,
>then often in other people's houses and finally in their parents-in-law's
>houses until they reached matronhood and replaced the previous head
matrons.
>On top of that, those of the lowest classes, tended to be defenseless
sexual
>prey as well.  No wonder many of them opted out, oftentimes had no choice
if
>they were disenfranchized "old spinsters" due to remaining single or being
>widowed, or if they adhered to pre-Christian believes and thus required
the
>"security" of seclusion.  Those were the women that lived on the fringes,
>typically in the woods (hage > _hagedisse_ 'witch'), either solitary or in
>communities, mostly making a living by spinning (i.e., "spinster"),
selling
>mushrooms and herbs, and performing traditional healing (mostly on women
and
>children).  It is primarily from among their ranks that the witch hunts
(one
>of the greatest holocausts) claimed its victims.
>
>In the local Eastphalian Low Saxon dialect, Magdeburg (the capital of
>Saxony-Anhalt, in formerly Slavonic-speaking territory) is called
>_Maydeborg_ (usually written <Meideborch>) ["ma:\IdebO:IC].
>
>My feeling is that Meideborch/Magdeburg relates to young women.  It's
oldest
>known name (804 CE) is _Magadoburg_.
>
>However, I don't know the story behind this, and I sure wish I did.
Anyone?

----------

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

Ingmar:

> This is the same situation that is still going on in many "Third World"
> countries: I know a lot of girls and young women, especially from Africa,
> who told me exactly the same... Groets, Ingmar

Quite so, Ingmar.  And not only in Africa.  I was mostly referring to the 
original Lowlands.  However, even there it was like that not too long ago, 
going what my parents and grandparents told us about the "good" old days, of 
which they still witnessed the tail end and heard more about from their 
forebears.  It was in the working classes that daughters, after having 
worked hard since early childhood, tended to be sent out to work as maids 
either in urban homes or on farms, were worked very hard, fed very poorly, 
had days off very rarely and often were harrassed and sexually assaulted by 
the males of the families they worked for.  Their lives weren't much 
different from those of slaves, except that they received a few pennies of 
pocket money.  If they became pregnant, they often committed suicide, often 
died because of hack-job abortions, or they ended up committing 
infanticide.*  Yes, boys tended to be sent out as servants and farmhands 
too, tended to be overworked and physically abused, but girls' fates were 
worse on the whole, because of above-mentioned situations and because girls 
were regarding as mattering less.

[* Klaus Groth's poem "Dat stœhnt int Moor" (Moaning on the Moor) seems to 
imply such a situation: http://www.geocities.com/grothwarken/moor2.htm]

Again, I wonder why Magdeburg seems to be called after maidens.  What might 
the story behind it be?

Furthermore, as an aside, in the area near or around Magdeborg many Flemings 
seem to have settled long ago.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron 

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