LL-L "Etymology" 2009.12.16 (04) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 16 December 2009 - Volume 04
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Beste Ron,

On 16/12/09, at 21:08, Lowlands-L List wrote:

What I find particularly interesting is the intrusion of "s" which I suspect
happened in French at the time /s/ had begun to be "deleted" before stops,
thus in analogy with words like (*gustus* >) *goût* 'taste', (*castellum*>)
*château* 'castle', (*hospitale* >) *hôpital* 'hospital',
*hôtel*'hostel', and (
*stabilire* > *establir* >) *établir* 'to establish'.


I can't give you a precise time frame for the "sublimation" of /s/ in French
(? 17th century or even later ?), but 16th century (written) French was
still using /s/ systematically it seems. The "vrijbuiter" loan probably
predates that period. Walloon still retains /s/ in some cases and Occitan
even more so. Southern Dutch "goesting, goeste" for "goût" (French for
taste) is another example.
Re "filibuster": an older French form is "fribustier". Maybe French
"bustier" interfered as well? If not, the /s/ may be explained as a case of
hypercorrection. If /s/ was on the way out first in Northern French, and
Central French got to loan something from the North, maybe they
automatically added an /s/, because they erroneously thought that the /s/
would have been omitted anyway.

Of course, English "freebooter" is believed to be a direct
pre-diphthongization Middle Dutch loan, at a time when "ij" was still
pronounced [i:] and probably before the "uu" to "ui" shift. The verb was/is
*vrijbuit* ("free-boot(y)") 'to plunder'. I assume that German
*Freibeuter*comes from the same source.


It does. The "uu" > "ui" shift can be described fairly accurately, both
geographically and chronologically. However, "buit" (in "vrij-buiter") is
precisely one of those very few exceptions that never obeyed this rule. Even
Brabantish, which has diphtongized more than you can shake a stick at,
"buit" is still pronounced "büüt" these days by (older) dialect speakers
(Kiliaan also testifies "buet"). There is apparently no agreement on a
further etymology of "buit", but some see cognates in Celtic languages.
"Buit" typically refers to the spoils of war, booty, so maybe it's a
substrate word that goes back to the days of the invading Indo-European
tribes, conquering older local populations? Taboo words, "Geheimsprachen" or
terms pertaining to criminal offense do sometimes lead a life of their own
and are much more resistent to phonological innovations.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium

•

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