LL-L "Etymology" 2008.02.04 (07) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  04 February 2008 - Volume 07
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From: Jacqueline Bungenberg de Jong <Dutchmatters at comcast.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.02.04 (02) [E]

Hello all, Ron found:

According to the handy *Dictionary of the Scots Language* (
http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/):

[Prob. orig. a children's deformation of *Turmet *or Eng. dial. form *tummit
*with dim. -*Sie *ending.]

Under "Turmit":

Also *turmet*, *turmut *(Uls. 1910 C. C. Russell People and Lang. 28); *
turmaet*, -*maek *(Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.). Sc. forms of Eng. *turnip *(Ayr.
1923 Wilson D. Burns 191; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; Slg., em.Sc.(b),
wm., sm., s.Sc. 1973). Sim. forms are also found in Eng. and Ir. dial.

My question then becomes is that also the root of D: Tomaat , E: Tomato? And
what about that other round thing "Tummy" (of course that may have come from
stomach, which course is related to F: Estomach and other words further
removed etymologically.) Is there such a thing as a "root word" (pun
intended) for a fat tummy? Jacqueline
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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Hi, Jacqueline!

The word "tomato" and its relatives are derived via Spanish from Nahuatl,
the language of the Nahua people, usually referred to as "Aztecs." In Modern
Nahuatl, still the most widely used indigenous language of Mexico, the word
for tomato is *xītomatl*. *Tomatl* is a general term for what is perceived
as related fruits, others being *mīltomatl* 'tomatillo', and
*cōztomatl*"Mexican tomato" (
*Physalis coztomatl*, delicious but hard to get outside Mexico).

In Nahuatl, *-tl* is by far the most commonly used singular noun-marking
suffix. So it's *xī-toma-tl* for instance.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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