LL-L "Etymology" 2010.08.11 (06) [EN]

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 11 August 2010 - Volume 06
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>

Subject: LL-L "Etymology"



Beste Marcus,



You wrote:



"vim" is etymologically related to Low Saxon "Fimm(e)/Fîm(e)" with the same
meaning ('stack of wood', 'stack of hay', 'stack of grain', but usually
'stack of wood'). Etymologically it cannot be related to 'Wiem(en)'.
According to Grimms' dictionary (
<http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemmode=lemmasearch&lemid=GW19406><http://germazope.uni-trier.de/Projects/WBB/woerterbuecher/dwb/wbgui?lemmode=lemmasearch&lemid=GW19406>)
'Wiem(en)' is a Romance loan related to Latin 'vimen' meaning "pliant twig,
flexible shoot". But this doesn't really convince me.



Me neither. Doesn't happen every day, but I think Grimm is wrong here. Latin
'vimen' has become "wijm" in Dutch, "waëm(pke)" (B) and is an entirely
different word altogether.



According to data I collected for my Plattmakers dictionary (
<http://www.plattmakers.de/index.php?show=2131><http://www.plattmakers.de/index.php?show=2131>)
the word is at least known from Groningen and the Veluwe in the west to
Mecklenburg in the east and from Schleswig in the north to Waldeck in the
south. That means it's common Low Saxon. I didn't find any references that
the word is known in High German or Dutch.



There are though.



Not surprisingly, the word is also known in Western Flemish as 'vim',
'viem', 'vumme', 'fiem' and 'vijm', meaning a big pile of wood or straw. In
use in Bruges, Ostend, Poperinge, Roeselare, and the very west in general.
In Old Saxon 'fimba' was a stack of grain, but Old and Middle High German
had the word too, resp. 'vîna' and 'vimme', a bunch. For some reason, it
must have vanished in the upper lands. I have no idea why, maybe
interference? Flemish also has 'vimme' for 'fin' (E), Flosse (G), just like
some Swedish dialects do, 'fime'. Maybe one 'vimme' killed another one?




If the word is indeed known in Groningen and the Veluwe but not in other
dialects of the Netherlands and this observation is not based on my limited
research skills in regard to Dutch sources (which is quite possible) than
this is almost certain proof that the word is an old Saxon word and no
Middle Low German loan as Grimms suggest.



More to the West, in Utrecht along the river Vecht (in non-Saxon territory
so to speak), 'vijn' is attested for a heap of peat. But whether and how it
is related to 'vim' is unclear.



Kind greetings,



Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium



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