LL-L "Lexicon" 2007.07.03 (07) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  03 July 2007 - Volume 07

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

Sandy, I agree that warning people about risqué word usages in other
language varieties ought to be a matter of judgment calls.  I would do it if
a word ought to be avoided in any context.  For instance, I would suggest
that non-American English speakers avoid the word "hump" altogether in the
United States, using the noun "bump" and verbs like "lug" and "schlepp,"
instead.  I wouldn't feel compelled to do so if the risqué element is
specific to a certain phrase but the word is all right in other contexts.

But here's another lexical topic.

Some of you many remember that some time ago we discussed the Low Saxon word
Ulenflucht (ulenvlucht), literally "owls flight," that to me it denoted
'evening twilight' (the time when owls start their nocturnal routines) and
to Gabriele it denoted a hole at the gable top of traditional North German
farm houses.

Some research shows that the word can indeed denote both of these.  I
understand that it means one or the other in any given dialect, and I am not
sure if there are any dialects in which it can mean both.

What I find interesting is that, while I find no trace of the word and its
cognates in the ancestral Lowlands languages, there are indications that
equivalents do exist in English and "Dutch."  The reason that this isn't
terribly obvious and well-known must be that we don't discuss this feature
often these days, and most houses that used to have it probably lost it in
the course of modernization. I assume that it is a descendant of the old
smoke hole, thus a permanent aperture for which there is no use these days.

Anyway, I found that in the Netherlands "Uilenvlucht" and "Uilevlucht"
appear in street names and in names of estates, homes, etc.  I am not sure,
but I have a feeling that most of those occur in the eastern part of the
country, which would lend weight to my assumption that it is a Saxon thing,
probably a Dutch translation of Low Saxon *Oelenvlocht ,*Oelenvlucht, *
Ulenvlocht or *Ulenvlucht.  In fact, I've come across it in German as well,
as Eulenflucht with both meanings, and dictionaries indicate that its usage
is restricted to Northern Germany; hence, we are clearly dealing with a loan
translation.

Furthermore, my research shows that English has related words:

   - owl-hole : a hole high up in the wall of a barn through which owls
   can enter to catch mice, etc. (OED, LEO)
   1898: "In many old barns..there are owl-holes just under the eaves,
   formed with ledges specially made for ingress and egress." (OED)
   - owl-light : twilight, dusk; dim or poor light. In early use
   sometimes: the cover of night, the dark (OED, LEO)
   1599: "Which droue Leander when he durst not deale aboue boord to swim
   to her, nor that in the day, but by owle light." (OED)
   2003: "When Orion rides low on the winter horizon, it is time to enter
   the woods and search for owls. They are out and about looking for mates, and
   seekers walk with hope in their hearts of seeing owl shadows moving against
   the stars, or the unmistakable owl shape amongst the silhouetted branches.
   In the twilight hours known as owl-light, that dusky uncertain time of
   day that hovers between light and dark, the paths through the woods take on
   a mystical quality." (tinyurl.com/3bgx75)
   - owl-time : the time when owls are abroad; dusk, twilight (OED, LEO)
   1961: "The quiet owl-time mapped for me Upon a moon-washed lawn." (OED
   )

I wonder if anyone can shed further light on the history and spread of this
group of words.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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