Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 10.djvu/469

 9fs.x.D E c.i3,i902.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

461

LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 73, 190*.

CONTENTS. -No. 259.

NOTES :- Notes on Skeat's ' Concise Dictionary ' 461 Bask Schoolgirl's Letters. 4H2 Bacon- Shakespeare Question 4fi3 Shakespearian Allusions Macaulay's Flashes of Silence " cigar" in Modern LaMn-C. H. Siegel 4*5 Dame Mary Page Maltese Linguage and History, 466

QUERIES : Rochester : Von Rogester Female "Suicides before A.D. 70 Vis-de-Lew Metcalfe or Midcalf 46 Hangman Stones Greville : Crew : Piquet A. Booth Dalton Sweezing Watch Passage in Kingsley M61i- sande " Good afternoon " Exempt from Poor Tax Monarch in Wheelbarrow, 467-Bee or Wasp as Artist's Device Archer, Architect Mundesley People Arms of Abbey of Burton-on-Trent Rudyatt-Morden Family Pre-Reformation Practices in Churches Philipson Bpitaph J. Bingham Stalkarth Family, 468.

REPLIES : Westminster Changes Sir B. Leighton, 469 Stamp Collecting and its Literature' Sergeant Bell and his Raree-Show' 'The Pageant '" Bat cherries with princes," 470 Roubiliac's Bust of Pope " Kit-Cat " Portraits" Not half " ' Aylwin 'Oxford at George I.'s

Arms of Married Women, 473 Crooked Usage, Chelsea Dyngham and Ockham Priories Rutter " May line a box" "Yeoman" Cromwell's Daughters, 474 "Em- barras des richesses " Charles II. in- West Dorset Satbalia Dr. Brewer's Monument "Lee oers for meddlers," 475 " Warth "Three Bishops in One Tomb of One Family Masculine Dress Experts Walton- Novel attributed to Scott Piddinghoe Church, 477 Huguenot Settlers in Ireland Notter "Tbetterin "478 NOTES ON BOOKS: Countess Cesaresco's 'Lombard Studies ' Hackwood's ' Christ Lore ' " Chiswick Shake- speare "' Photograms 'Latham's 'Idiomatic Phrases' " Oxford Miniature Poets " 'Edinburgh Review.'

fjtotes*

NOTES ON SKEAT'S 'CONCISE

DICTIONARY,' 1901. (See ante, pp. 83, 221, 356.)

1. Starch. This word is rightly equated with Ger. Starke, starch, a derivative of stark, strong. But the vocalization of the English word is not explained. Ger. Starke pre- supposes a primitive type *starkjon, which would be represented in Old English by an unrecorded *stiercu, in non-West Saxon dia- lects *sterce, with palatization of the c. This Anglian or Mercian sterce would be written in Middle English *sterche, which would be pronounced starch in modern English. Com- pare the modern pronunciations marsh, yard, bark, dark, star.

2. Larch. In the ' Concise ' the name of this tree is said to be derived from O.F. larice. This French form is a learned form due to Lat. larlcem, and would have appeared unchanged in English. It is unnecessary to assume that our word came to us through the French. The form larch corresponds to Ger. Larche (M.H.G. Lerche). The two forms point to an early borrowing of the Latin word by German-speaking people. The later form- history of the word " larch " is identical with that of " starch."

3. Jury-mast. ' Concise ' says, " short for ajury-mast." Where does the word "ajury- mast " occur ? Is there any evidence of the existence of the word "ajury" in English? Prof. Skeat, in support of his etymology, adduces the ' Promptorium ' word iuwere, "remedium," but it is difficult to see what iuwere has to do with the question. He then proceeds to explain that this non-existent English word "ajury " is identical with O.F. ajuirie, aid. But if this French word had been imported into English the accent would have been on the first syllable, and not on the second (cp., for instance, "orator "), so it could not have given us jury.

4. Quail (to lose heart, to be cowed). This word is equated in the ' Concise ' with O.R cwelan (to die), a word which was not in use later than the thirteenth century. As 'H.E.D.' briefly puts it, "Phonology, sense, and date are against any connexion of the word ' quail ' with early M.E. quelen." In the dialects "quaiy is used in the sense of "to fade, wither," also "to curdle." Pro- bably we have one word here of French origin ; cp. O.F. quailler, to curdle, coagulate.

5. Boast. ' Concise ' says, " Origin un- known, but perhaps a late formation (with suffix -st) from A.-S. bogan, bon, to boast." This suggestion is inadmissible for many reasons. In the first place, is there a suffix -st used in late English formations'? I do not know of such a suffix. In formations going back to the primitive Germanic period we find rare specimens of a suffix -stu, in cases where the suffix -tu was preceded by a voice- less spirant like Ger. ch (written h) ; cp., for instance, Goth, maihstus (dunghill), ON. lostr (a fault), O.H.G. lastar. But this Ger- manic suffix -stu (for -htu) is not represented by the st sound in late English forma- tions. In these formations the phonetic development is ht, hst, xt. For instance, with Goth, maihstus, Ger. Mist, we may compare O.E. meox, mix (dung), dial. E. mixen (dunghill), where meox is for an older example of xt tor hst. It represents O.E. nehst. From this it follows that O.E. bogan (to boast) could not have " boast" as a derivative. The analogy of meox, mixen, shows us that a similar late formation from O.E. bogian (namely *bohst) would have resulted in box or boxt in modern English. In the second place, is it possible to produce any English word of Germanic origin, with primitive o, which is pronounced in the same way as "boast," with the modern English long o? I think it will be found that all modern English words that rime with "boast" are
 * meohst. Our modern "next" is a good