Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/414

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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. x. NOV. 22, 1902.

just found the solution, and if it is already public property I must apologize. In Hol- land's 'Plinie,' ix. 15 (1601), the following passage occurs :

" Neare to Chalcedon upon the Coast of Asia, there standeth a rocke, exceeding bright and white

withal the Tunies (affrighted at thesodaine sight

thereof) to avoid it, goe alwaies amaine in whole flotes, toward the cape over against Bizantium, which cape thereupon beareth the name of Auricorum. And therefore it is, that the Bizantines make great gaine by fishing for them."

I believe " Auricorum " to be an obvious misprint for Auricornu, or the Golden Horn. Ana its name arose as above. It is hardly necessary to say that Holland's ' Plinie ' abounds in slight and easily rectified typo- graphical errors. H. C. HART.

Carrablagh, co. Donegal.

[The query appeared 7 th S. vi. 389, and various suggestions were offered at 7 th S. vi. 492 ; vii. 55.]

KURISH GERMAN. A decidedly interesting series of phenomena is presented by the German which is spoken at the present day in the Russian province of Kurland. To explain the development of the speech it is necessary to say a word or two about the history of the district. The original inha- bitants of Kurland are Letts. In the thirteenth century Prussian merchants and Prussian knights occupied the country, and have left an indelible trace of their presence in the use of the German language. The Swedes held the province for about two hundred years. In more recent times an invasion of Yiddish- speaking Jews occurred.

We have then two populations to deal with the country, consisting in the main of Letts speaking their own language, and scattered German-speaking families, descendants of the old Prussian nobility ; and the town popu- lation, consisting of the burgher class, speaking German, the Jews speaking Yiddish, and the town Letts speaking their own language, and also a Lettish-German that is worse than the average Englishman's first attempts to converse in that language.

The Lettish has, particularly in the towns, been largely influenced by German, possibly also by Swedish. The country nobility speak good German, tainted, however, by Lettish syntax. In the towns we find the Jews speaking their own jargon, and also for out- door use a very Hebrew type of German. The burghers speak German tainted with Jewish syntax, and distinctively Kurish in vocabulary. It is an interesting problem, as to how much of this Kurish vocabulary is Lettish in origin, how much is due to an influx in recent years of merchants from

Memel and other towns of North Prussia, and how much to the dialect of the merchants and fighting men of the old days when Prussia first invaded the province.

Some examples may help to illustrate what has been said. The following sentence is in the burgher German spoken in the towns : "Ich fung an zu schreien, und loff herauser," I began to scream, and ran out." Here we find "fung" ioifing, "loff" for lief, "herauser" for hinaus.

"Ich geh' ins Ausemlande" is used for the correct German Auslande ; " vorigen Tag" for neulich. Bude is the usual word for shop, in Lettish Bohde. " Spann " takes the place of Eimer, "Schmand" of Rahm or Sahne. Kraufen means to creep ; Keuchel, a chicken. Peculiarities of pronunciation are found, such as " ebend " for eben, " nich " for nicht. The modified vowels u and o become ih and eh ; thus '' Fihsse " for Fiisse, " schehn " for schon. The letter g is invariably soft, like the English y. It is, however, noticeable that the Jews always give a hard guttural sound to this letter.

Schmand tor cream appears to be lateM.H.G. from the Czech. Bude and Lettish Bohde are M.H.G. Spann no doubt refers to the wooden yoke used for carrying buckets of water.

"Ich werde spazieren heute" owes its word-order to Jewish influence: such a sentence is peculiar to the towns where there is a large Hebrew population. Hitherto Russian influence has been practically nil, except in the case of Lettish, where, e.g., blohda means a dish, Russian blyuda; zilwek, a man, Russian chelovyek.

FRED. G. ACKERLEY.

British Vice-Consulate, Libau, Russia.

" TARRIERS." Jamieson, in the 'Scottish Dictionary,' defines "tarrie" as "a terrier- dog," and states that the form is in use in the counties of Ayr and Renfrew. He quotes in illustration these lines from the poems of Gl. Picken (1788) :

As we had naught but wearin' graith, We clamb the braes like tarries.

He adds that " tarrie dog " is also used as a descriptive name, and suggests as a probable origin the French pronunciation of chien terrier, c. terrie". In other parts of Scotland the full form " tarrier " is constantly heard at the present time among those who avoid affectations in language and speak according to the traditions of the elders. It is curious and interesting to find an illustration of the same pronunciation in an English classic of the seventeenth century. In Massinger's