Maarten van Beek wrote:
...variation in
>Dutch,
>> where "f" _does_ seem to predominate in loans-- except some few that
don't
>> _obviously_ seem to be loans. I was hoping some of our Dutch
>> correspondents would enlighten us.
>
>I'll do my best, though I am sceptical...
Thanks. It's interesting and helpful. Confirms my suspicion that "f"
probably marks loans or dialect forms.
(snips)
>> fladderen 'to flutter',
>
>fladderen <- fletharôn (old dutch: "to beat with ones wings"). Related to
>words like "vlerk" (bat wing) and "vleermuis" (bat). Note that both are
>written with 'v'!
Now that you mention "vleermuis", there's Germ. Fledermaus-- suggestive.
>
....
>> fokken 'to breed (animals)',
>
>Origin unknown to me
Too bad. In view of our well known Engl. word, it's probably some good old
Germanic word.
>
>> fuif 'spree',
>Recent addition to the Dutch vocabulary, student language, origin unclear
>
>> fuiven 'to revel',
>See above
>
>> fut 'spirit, pep'--
>Late dutch, probably originated from "vort" or "voort" (forward).
These last are very odd. It seems to be rare for truly new "invented" words
to arise. Acronyms, contractions, humorous deformations-- yes. IIRC one of
the few without any known etymology in modern times is "gas", Fr. "gaz"(?)