LL-L 'Etymology' 2006.09.04 (02) [A/E/German]

Mon Sep 4 16:37:45 UTC 2006

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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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L O W L A N D S - L * 04 September 2006 * Volume 02
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From: 'jonny' [jonny.meibohm at arcor.de]
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology'

Dear Lowlanders,

below I show some words I have difficulties to get along with, to see their roots
resp. cognatives in other (Lowland-)Languages:

1. LS: 'Winterfall':
meaning 'having ploughed in the times of autumn', 'ploughed land, whithout seed,
in the autumn, to be in good condition in springtimes', still in use (in the
language and practise of) farming in northern hemispheres for e.g. sugar-roots,
corn, summer-cereals. Could it be perhaps a missed link between English (Old
Saxon??) 'fall' for 'autumn' and LS/G: 'Haarvst'/'Herbst'?

2. LS, D: 'scheelen' (verbum)
in the meaning of G: 'lohnend', 'groÃŸer Fortschritt'? Where and who to find any
connections to other, similar words in whatever-language?

3. NL: 'Eeuw'
could it be connected with E: 'medi-eval' and Latin: "evaluere': 'sich
erstrecken, ausdehnen'?

4. G: 'SchneekÃ¶nig'
als Synonym fÃ¼r 'ZaunkÃ¶nig'? I found it on 'wiktionary.de' and had some doubts
about it (pssst- I referred about my rejections anonymiously; I'm an active
member myself and in good friendship with the co-actives). Isn't it a
transferred/handed down parable from any Russian or Finlandian novel??
Dostowjesky, even?

Thanks in award for every welcomed answer!

Greutens/Regards

Johannes "Jonny" Meibohm

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From: 'Elsie Zinsser' [ezinsser at icon.co.za]
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2006.09.03 (01) [A]

Haai julle,

Nog ietsie meer oor 'viets'. Boshoff en Nienaber se 'Afrikaans EtimologieÃ«'
se inskrywing is:
"deftig, netjies, piekfyn, swierig". Blykbaar nie uit Nederlands nie,
moontlik 'n doeblet van
NDL "vies" in betekenis van 'kieskeurig'; of miskien 'n neologistiese
kontaminasie van vies, vief en viks
-sou dit verband kan hou met Fr ( Je m'en) fiche (pas mal) " ek het die land
daaraan" (dit wil sÃª:
stel my kieskeurig daarbo").

Groete,
Elsie Zinsser

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From: 'Marcel Bas' [roepstem at hotmail.com]
Subject: LL-L 'Etymology' 2006.09.03 (01) [A]

Beste Mark,

> > Beste Marcel:
> >
> > Onderwerp. LL-L 'Etymology'
> >
> > You wrote:
> >
> > Mark, I sometimes read the Afrikaans word _viets_. Dit beteken glo
> > _deftig_. Maar
> > watse woord is dat? Ek kan dit nie in die HAT vind nie.
> >
> > Ja, deftig is dit wel. In Kritzinger en Steyn, Schoonees en Cronje se
> > GROOT WOORDEBOEK (die vertalende uitgawe) lees ek, 'spruce, smart'.
>
>My comuter has been having a blonde moment. Did this note get threough?

Nee, blykbaar nie. Dankie vir die betekenis, Mark. 'Deftig' is die betekenis wat
ek geken het.

Elsie, blykbaar is daardie 'deftige' betekenis nie meer in swang nie. Ek weet dat
jy nogal huiwerig is vir 'boekerige' betekenisse en woorde, dus ek neem maar aan
dat Kritzinger, Steyn, Schoonees en CronjÃ© se betekenis outyds is, en dat jou
'fikse' betekenis algemener gebruik word.

Groetnis,

Marcel.

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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Etymology

Thanks for the interesting words, Jonny!  Here just a few notes.

> 2. LS, D: 'scheelen' (verbum)
> in the meaning of G: 'lohnend', 'groÃŸer Fortschritt'? Where 
> and who to find any connections to other, similar words in 
> whatever-language?

This is an interesting word also in usage.  The German glosses you gave are not
verbs, and it is indeed difficult to render it in German, or in English.  It
means something like 'to yield (or promise) success'.  Thus, for instance _Dat
scheelt_ means 'It/that is successful/a good method', 'It/that is working well
and progresses well'.  In some context it can be equivalent to German _glÃ¼cken_
'to work out'.

> 3. NL: 'Eeuw'
> could it be connected with E: 'medi-eval' and Latin: "evaluere': 
> 'sich erstrecken, ausdehnen'?

Also _eew_ in Western Low Saxon dialects, meaning 'century', as in Dutch.  (I
assume _jaarhunnerd_ 'century' is a German loan.)  The origin of _eeuw_ is 'a
very long period of time' and also 'eternity'.  I believe that Low Saxon and
German _ewig_ 'eternal' is derived from it.

> 4. G: 'SchneekÃ¶nig'
> als Synonym fÃ¼r 'ZaunkÃ¶nig'?

Note Dutch _winterkoninkje_ ("winter king") 'wren'.  The European kind stays
around during the winter.

Elsie, Marcel _et al._, _deftig_ is an interesting word.  In German it means
something like 'solid', 'strong', 'hard-working', etc., 'hearty', 'solid' with
regard to a meal, 'hefty' with regard to an action, and 'ribald', 'salty', etc.
with regard to jokes or language. Interestingly, German got it from 17th-century
North German (including Low Saxon) usage, apparently as a loan from Frisian or
Dutch.  This seems plausible since there seem to be no cognates in Old Saxon. 
It's earlier meaning was 'suitable' or 'proper', as also Gothic _gadÃ´fs_ and Old
English _gedafen_ (besides Old English _gedÃ¦fte_ 'gentle').  Apparently, this
word group is related to Slavonic words for 'good' (e.g., Polish, Sorbian
_dobry_, Kashubian _dobri_, Czech, Slovak _dobrÃ½_, Russian, Ukrainian Ð´Ð¾Ð±Ñ€Ñ‹Ð¹
_dobryj_, Serbo-Croatian _dobar_, Bulgarian Ð´Ð¾Ð±ÑŠÑ€ _dobÄƒr_).  In earlier times
_deftig_ also denoted 'good', 'dignified', 'important' in the Frisian and Low
Franconian areas.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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