LL-L "Idiomatica" 2007.03.05 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L - 05 March 2007 - Volume 01

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From: "Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc." <roger.thijs at euro-support.be>
Subject: LL-L "Idiomatica" 2007.03.04 (07) [E]

As to:

English: bell | clock | ... o'clock
Scots: bell (clock) | clock | ... o'clock (?)
L. Saxon: klok (Klock) | klok (Klock) | klok ... (Klock ...)
Dutch: klok | klok ~ uurwerk | ... uur

in my Limburgish (Lonerlands of Vliermaal):

5 o'clock = Vaif Oere ("Oe" as in Dutch, "U" in German")
12 o'clock = non (is actually an old 9: nonius?)
also for "having lunch" = "non iëte"
immediately: "opte sloag" (= "op de slag (van het uurwerk)"?)
earlobe: "oorbelle"
ring up (someone): "(immand) belle"
the doorbell ringed: "het hèt gebelt"

Regards,
Roger

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From: Arthur Jones <arthur.jones at yahoo.com
Subject: LL-L "IdiotAutomatica" 2007.03.04 (04) [E][GO]

Lieve Leglanners,

In 520 AD, Ostrogothic King (and Roman Emperor in all but name),
Thiudareiks, whom we know as Theodoric the Great, and who was likely a
sarcastic bastard, sent his fellow German (in the larger sense), Odoacer, a
water clock made according to the latest Greco-Roman technology. He wrote a
note to go with it, in which he suggested that Odoacer might take advantage
of learning how to tell time. He added that "only the animals cannot
distinguish between the hours; they know only that it is time to eat or to
sleep. But that is no way for a King to behave in this modern age."
They later engaged in a giant battle near Ravenna, and Theodoric won. After
they signed a peace treaty, Odoacer was invited to a banquet. Whereupon
Theodoric killed him.

The Gothic word for "clock" was *hweilamitadjo, *or "hour measure".

Also, I have been reluctant to say this, and I certainly mean no offense.
But I noticed when living in the UK (one year on Guernsey; five years in
London and Bucks), fanciful etymologies were rampant. The quirky story was
always more interesting than the science. Possibly the Brits got this trait
from soldiers and sailors returning from their friendly jaunts worldwide,
taking up the White Man's Burden. Even today, if the story entertains, few
seem to care about its historical accuracy. Like the canard about edicts
permitting Fornication Under Consent of the King: supposedly centuries
before acronyms became popular, and flying in the face of the evidence,
viz., an ancient Indo-European root word that has correspondent forms in
nearly all IE languages. But the acronym entertains, Proto-Indo-European
less so.

Unfortunately, samey-thingy with our Heather's story about clock/bell.
Sorry, Heather. Would that you were right.

So etymology disappoints.

As long as we are on the subject of time, try this one on for size, the
Sword of Pernik. Discovered in the 1920s, in the Bulgarian town of Pernik,
this ninth century Germanic sword was inscribed, but hard to decipher. It
was figured out, finally, three years ago. It says:

IHININIHUILPID IHINIHUILPN
"I, within, await not the hour: I, within, *AM *the hour".

Mith frijandaleikaim goljathaim,

Arthur
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