LL-L "Etymology" 2010.03.08 (06) [EN]

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*L O W L A N D S - L - 08 March 2010 - Volume 06*
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From: Marcus Buck <list at marcusbuck.org>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2010.03.08 (02) [EN]

From: Jonny <jonny.meibohm at arcor.de <mailto:jonny.meibohm at arcor.de
>>

> Subject: LL-L "Etymology"
>
> Dear Lowlanners,
>  yesterday evening Piet Bult told about a word perhaps fitting into the
> special women's day of today ;-).
>  He used the word 'broedlachte' for 'wedding', spoken in Twente and
> Achterhoek. We're wondering if this word is from Low Saxon origin and what
> etymological background it might have.
>  Allerbest!
>
As Diederik and Ron said, it is a word that is or was found in all Germanic
languages. The etymology is "Brautlauf" (although there might be some
contaminations with "Lag" [German 'Gelage'], the 't' at the end stems from a
variant of "Lauf" that is still present in the German word "Zeitläufte").
There's no agreed-upon explanation which custom was the base for this term.
Some sources suggest that in old times to-be grooms had to win the bride in
a race competition. But this explanation sounds very "19th century" to me.
Another possible explanation is that in old times on the wedding day the
bride moved from her parent's house to the groom's house (and family,
neighbors etc. accompanying them). So "Lauf" would refer to this event. That
sounds more likely to me. In my own home region this event (called
"Bruudhalen") was still a common custom till the mid 20th century.

Several versions of the word were still used in the 19th century in many
different Low Saxon dialects. I guess in Germany the word only went extinct
in the 20th century at the same time most traditional customs went extinct.
>From the big Low Saxon dictionaries that were compiled in the 19th century
Woeste's Westfälisches Wörterbuch mentions "brûdloch: Trauung", "brûdlocht:
Hochzeitszug", "brûdlöchte: Hochzeit" and "brûdloft: Hochzeit". These words
were reported from Weitmar, Dortmund, Deilinghoven and Iserlohn
respectively. The Bremisch-niedersächsisches Wörterbuch reports "Bruutlag:
Hochzeit" and says that "Bruutlofte: Verlöbnis, Verlöbnisschmaus" must be
considered a different word. The third dictionary mentioning it is the
Holsteinisches Idiotikon reporting "Brudlacht: Brautmahl, Hochzeit".

Marcus Buck

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Thanks, Marcus.

You wrote:
So "Lauf" would refer to this event. That sounds more likely to me. In my
own home region this event (called "Bruudhalen") was still a common custom
till the mid 20th century.

I completely agree with you. This custom of a bride ceremonially making her
way to her future husband's home, accompanied by her family, friends and
neighbors, is still alive in many Eurasian cultures.*

Bruudhalen* ("fetching the bride") may be referring to the bridegroom and
his retinue picking the bride up at her former home.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

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