Re: USAGE: Dutch v or f (was: Grimm's Law)

> Van: John Cowan
> Onderwerp: Re: Dutch v or f (was: Grimm's Law)
>
> Maarten van Beek scripsit:
>
> > In Dutch, we have a very famous invented word, namely the word "fiets"
for
> > bicycle. It was invented by the participant of a contest in the first
half
> > of this century, where the contest was specifically intended to yield a
new
> > word for this invention.
>
> What were the criteria that made "fiets" the winning word?
Hmm, I had to look it up... The word originated even earlier then I thought,
in 1870 in the city of Apeldoorn. I am not sure anymore about the
contest-thingy. The more I look for it, the more different etymologies I
find: I find sources linking it to names of Dutch (Viets) and English (Fitz)
firms, derivations from "vélopcipède" (fr) or "vitesse". Some sources even
claim it to be onomotopoeic, as in the sound that you hear when a bike
passes by "fts-fts-fts..."

Maarten