LL-L "Names" 2007.05.24 (01) [E]

[Lowlands-L List]

L O W L A N D S - L  -  24 May 2007 - Volume 01

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From: "heatherrendall at tiscali.co.uk"
Subject: LL-L "Names" 2007.05.23 (08) [E]

Mike Wintzer wrote: I think (Ron to confirm) that Uelzen and Uetersen have
nothing to do with Umlaut.

re umlaut / and 'e'

I was under the impression that the 'e' added to the vowel was the
alternative to the umlaut and that the latter only came into full force with
the Spelling reform of the early 19th century which also saw off 'th' for
't'.

Hence Goethe still wrote his name like that; I used to have a mid 19th c
print with a bookshelf in the background that had a volume by 'Göte" - the
only time I have ever seen it written with the (then) Neue Rechtschreibung.

Names of people and places are notoriously conservative so you still find
Hochhuth   or Rothenberg   or - and this is the one the world still
mispronounces - Neanderthal

I used to get my pupils to scan the credits of american films to see how
many OLD German spellings they could see as surnames.

As English typewriters/ telecasters didn't have umlauts it was always the
practice the add the 'e' : so Muenchen is how it would be spelt in the
football results.

So if a town still uses the 'e' it is just following the example of Goethe -
which isn't a bad example to follow!

Heather

PS why not "Lowlandloper" which admittedly is a hybrid but then -hey- why
not be creative! 'Lope' in English has such a lovely laid back connotation -
easy travel with a mind to pleasure rather than purpose - isn't that what
you're after?
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