[tied] Re: More water, poles, catch...

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Miguel Carrasquer <mcv@...> wrote:

> On Mon, 28 Jun 2004 09:21:54 +0000, tgpedersen
> <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
>
> >BTW What, if anything, does Dutch <paling> "eel" have to do with
> >poles?
>
> Unknown. The oldest form of the word is pâlathing(e) (in
> the PN Pâlathingedîc, 1111), pâlezinc (1080), which may be a
> compound of pâla + þing "pole-thing"
> (http://www.leidenuniv.nl/host/mnl/tntl/118/118-4/tollenaere.htm),
> or simply an -ing derivation (cf. haring, bokking, wijting)
> of *pâlaþ- (whatever that may mean).
>

The landscapes east and west of Oslo fjord are named Østfold and
Vestfold, respectively. Perhaps *pâlaþ- is the Nordwestblock version
and means "river-bank, -side".

English <pale> in the sense "district" is most commonly derived from
<pale>, <pole> in the sense "palisade", thus "palisaded area". But in
the concrete cases, like the Irish Pale, and the area around Calais,
it is a coast area (and now I'll have to explain the Scotch Pale).

Torsten