>The "kläffen" does not belong to "klap-
Klappe! :-) Of course it does!
Where's the link? Exactly in Mittelniederdeutsch:
klatschen, schallen, plappern. A too voluble
somebody does... klapp-klapp-klapp. And to
klaffen & kläffen there is only a small step:
Niederdeutsch [p] becomes Mittel- and Ober-
deutsch [f]. (North of Aachen-Cologne-Berlin
you have Aap, South of it Affe "ape")
George