LL-L "Etymology" 2006.02.26 (05) [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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   L O W L A N D S - L * 26 February 2006 * Volume 05
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From: Wesley Parish <wes.parish at paradise.net.nz>
Subject: "Hamma Burg" - derivation?

I was looking in Wikipedia at the Hamburg site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamburg
and I noticed this:
"The city takes its name from the first permanent building on the site, a 
fort
ordered to be built by Emperor Charlemagne in 808 AD. The fort was built on 
some
rocky ground in a marsh between the Alster and the Elbe as a defence against
Slavic incursion. The fort was named Hamma Burg, where "burg" means "fort."

"The "Hamma" element remains uncertain. Old High German includes both a 
hamma,
"angle" and a hamme, "pastureland." The angle might refer to a spit of land 
or
to the curvature of a river. However, the language spoken might not have 
been
Old High German, as Plattdüütsch was spoken there later. Other theories are 
that
the fort was named for a surrounding Hamma forest, or for the village of 
Hamm,
later incorporated into the city. Hamm as a place name occurs a number of 
times
in Germany, but its meaning is equally uncertain. It could be related to 
"heim"
and Hamburg could have been placed in the territory of the ancient Chamavi.
However, a derivation of "home city" is perhaps too direct, as the city was
named after the castle."

I doubt a city established in the territory of the Saxons by a Frankish king
would be named in Althochdeutsch.  I doubt there is enough Frankish 
preserved
except in names, to be able to use that.  Which leaves us with Old Saxon, 
and
Nedersassisch/Plattdeutsch (with Old English, Dutch and Friesian as 
cognates).

There is an English word "ham" - found in "buckingham" for example - which 
means
"village"; it also occurs in the word "hamlet' meaning a small village that 
is
socially and politically part of a larger village's territory, an offshoot 
of
the larger community.  But that fails the sanity test - what sense is there 
in
the name "village fort"?

Does anyone have any better suggestions?

Wesley Parish

"Sharpened hands are happy hands.
"Brim the tinfall with mirthful bands"
- A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge

"I me.  Shape middled me.  I would come out into hot!"
I from the spicy that day was overcasked mockingly - it's a symbol of the
other horizon. - emacs : meta x dissociated-press

----------

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

Hey, Wes!  How's it goin'?  Good to hear from you again.  (I see not 
everyone is watching the Winter Olympics all the time.)

I've wondered the same thing before (being, after all, a true Hamburger, 
just a lot tastier, juicier and better for you).

Why, oh why, one might ask, where they going through Old German only?

Personally, I prefer to err on the side of Old Saxon _ham_.  I assume its 
original meaning was *"fenced-in pasture" or "paddock," being glossed 
variously as 'corner' and 'meadow'.  Germanic *_hamm(j)a_ 'fenced-in area'. 
Some Middle Saxon dialects have _ham_ 'fenced-in pasture', 'paddock', and 
apparently this is preserved in a few modern dialects.  The Old English 
cognate is _ham(m)_ ~ _hom(m) (> "ham" > "hamlet")_, Old Frisian _ham_ ~ 
_hom_ ~ _him_ (> East & North Frisian _ham(m)_), all with that range of 
meaning.  As you go west to the Low Franconian area, beginning on the 
eastern banks of the Rhine, it tends to mean 'meadow' (e.g., Western Flemish 
_ham_).

"Castle," "citadel," "fortresss," etc., is _burg_ in Old Saxon, _borg_ 
[bO:x] in Modern Low Saxon.

The Old Saxon cognate of Old English _hám_ (> "home") is _hêm_, which in 
Modern Low Saxon is (now rare) _heym_ (<Heem>) [cf. Old Frisian _hém_, Norse 
_heimr_ > Dan. _hjem_, Swed. _hem_, German _heim_ > _Heim_, Gothic _háims_; 
also Old Prussian _caymis_, Lithuanian _kaímas_ ~ _kë́mas_ 'homestead', 
'village', Sanskrit क्षेमस् _kśemas_ 'safe dwelling' < क्षेम _kśema_ 
'affording security', 'habitable' < स्क्षि- _kśi-_ 'to be at rest', 'to 
dwell (securely/permanently)'].

What I am wondering is if *all* instances of "-ham" in English place names 
are derived from Old English _hám_ 'homestead', 'village', or if some of 
them are derived from _ham(m)_ 'fenced-in pasture'.

Furthermore, does frequently occurring _-um_ in Frisian place names go back 
to above-mentioned Old Frisian _hom_? [e.g., Ealsum (Aalsum), Burgum 
(Bergum), Dokkum, Himmelum (Hemelum), Ysbrechtum (IJsbrechtum), Miedum, 
Eastrum (Oostrum), Wytmarsum (Witmarsum), Warkum (Workum), Oomram (Amrum), 
Hüsem (Husum), Hörnum, Keitum]

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron 

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