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Etymology of some Middle English words | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room |  | |
| Suau Newbie Romania Joined 5816 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Studies: Spanish* | Message 1 of 7 06 September 2009 at 12:39am | IP Logged |
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Could anyone please help me to find the etymology of these middle English words:
1- commyxstion 2- garryng 3- grisbitynge 4- harrynge 5- wlafferynge These words appear in a text, written in the 1380s by John of Trevisa. The complete work is a translation, with Trevisa's own additions, of a history called Polychronicon written in Latin earlier in the century. Many thanks in advance. Edited by newyorkeric on 08 September 2009 at 11:43am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| GibberMeister Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Scotland Joined 5808 days ago 61 posts - 67 votes  Speaks: Spanish, Catalan, Lowland Scots*, English*, Portuguese | Message 2 of 7 07 September 2009 at 10:57am | IP Logged |
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3 and 4 look Scandinavian if that's any help. A bit difficult to guess without a context. Garryng might mean making or causing in which case, it will be realted to the Lowland Scots 'gar' as in ''It wad gar ye greet'' meaning 'It would make you weep'. If so it'll be related to (I think) Swedish Göra or something like that. As I say, it's harder without a context to place it in for meaning. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Darobat Diglot Senior Member Joined 7188 days ago 754 posts - 770 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin | Message 3 of 7 07 September 2009 at 6:36pm | IP Logged |
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Number 5 looks like it could have Welsh origins. I don't speak any Welsh though, so I can't really help beyond that.
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| Suau Newbie Romania Joined 5816 days ago 3 posts - 3 votes Studies: Spanish* | Message 4 of 7 07 September 2009 at 10:54pm | IP Logged |
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The following is part of the text where these words appear:
Also Englischmen, þey3 hy hadde fram þe bygynnyng þre maner speche, Souþeron, Norþeron, and Myddel speche in þe myddel of þe lond, as hy come of þre maner people of Germania, noþeles, by commyxstion and mellyng furst wiþ danes and afterward wiþ Normans in menye þe contray longage ys apeyred, and som vseþ strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng and garryng, grisbittyng. ( John Trevisa's text "On the English Language", 1385. Here is the modern translation: Also Englishmen though they had from the beginning three varieties of speech –Southern, Northern, and Middle speech in the middle of the land, as they came from three kinds of people from Germany. Nevertheless bu mixing and mingling first with Danes afterwards with Normans in many the language of the land is impaired and some use strange stammering, chattering, snarling, and harsh gnashing. What I have found is the following: Garrynge (Trevisa) / Garryng (Caxton): from M.E. grolling "rumbling in the bowels" (c.1380), from O.Fr. grouler. The modern English form is growling. Grisbittynge (Trevisa) / Grisbytyng (Caxton): 1496, variant of M.E. gnasten "to gnash the teeth" (c.1300), perhaps from O.N. gnastan "a gnashing," of unknown origin, probably imitative. The modern English form is gnashing. Commyxtion: It derived directly from Latin. Is there anybody who can access to OED online? I appreciate it if someone could help me. Many thanks in advance. Edited by newyorkeric on 08 September 2009 at 11:44am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| GibberMeister Bilingual Pentaglot Groupie Scotland Joined 5808 days ago 61 posts - 67 votes Speaks: Spanish, Catalan, Lowland Scots*, English*, Portuguese | Message 5 of 7 08 September 2009 at 9:49am | IP Logged |
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Garrynge from grouler?
That looks like a rather wishful thinking type of etymology. Seriously doubtful. I'd look at the Scandinavian languages if I were you. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6703 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 6 of 7 08 September 2009 at 2:37pm | IP Logged |
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I just gave this thread a more precise name.
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| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6272 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 7 of 7 03 October 2009 at 2:52am | IP Logged |
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I think by Shakespeare's time they were saying conmixing for commyxtion.
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