LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.23 (04) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 23 November 2009 - Volume 04
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From: Sandy Fleming <sandy at fleimin.demon.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.23 (02) [EN]

> From: clarkedavid8 at aol.com
> Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.11.23 (01) [EN
>
> I heard a story about the eymology of the word "kangaroo". When
> Captain Cook reached Australia, just as this strange animal was
> spotted on the shore and people were asking each other what it was, a
> Scottish crew member who was stuck in the toilet shouted "Ah cann' ga'
> roo'" and the name stuck.  I am sceptical about this story, as I can't
> remember any mention of toilets with closing doors in the novels of
> O'Brien.

"Ah cann' ga' roo'"?

But what does this mean?

Sandy Fleming
http://scotstext.org/

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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
 Subject: LL-L "Etymology"

Beste Ron,

You wrote:

This reminds me of what I assume is folk etymology of the name of the city
(now a part of Hamburg) of Altona in Germany.

Founded as a fishing village in 1535, Altona was given city rights by
Denmark's King Frederik III in 1664. It played an important role as a Danish
city that could be reached from Hamburg's city walls by just a short. Altona
used to house a major Jewish community. Because Hamburg severely restricted
the number of resident Jews until 1864 (with one break: 1811-1815), most
Jews lived in Altona and worked in Hamburg which was sometimes independent
and sometimes under Prussian power.

Anyway, I have heard stories about a child or a blind person having to mark
the town's border, or Hamburg's border, or someone was to do so by throwing
something or other, and then the Low Saxon reaction was "Al to nah!" ("All
too near!"). Or was it that people used to say that Altona was "Al to nah"
from Hamburg?

Main stress is on the first syllable of the name, by the way, unlike all
those American places called Altona and Altoona that are stressed on the
second syllable. The phrase "Al to nah" has stress on the last syllable.

Anyway, does anyone know anything about these etymological theories and what
seems to be the true one?


Altena = al-te-na = all too near methinks. Regarding Dutch influence in
Altona:

http://www.arnold-rump.de/namenforschung_mit_neuem_hintergrund_001.pdf

There's other places with similar names:

Alteveer = al-te-veer (all too far) in Drente and Groningen
Nauerna = nieuwer-na (nowhere near) in Northern Holland
Altena in Antwerp and Western Flanders

The family name Altena, van Altena, Altuna is also native in Belgium (14th
century in Ghent and Tienen). There's another similar family name 'Altebij'.

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium

•

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