Rick, would you please refrain from top-posting? It makes
your posts much harder to read, and it usually means that
you quote *far* more material than is necessary.
At 3:14:09 PM on Wednesday, April 2, 2008, Rick McCallister
wrote:
> --- "Anders R. Joergensen" <ollga_loudec@...>
> wrote:
>> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "fournet.arnaud"
>> <fournet.arnaud@...> wrote:
[...]
>>> -kk- versus -g-
>>> mrekk "speckled"
>>> marga
>> I don't think a word mrecc exists in OIr. We have brecc
>> 'speckled' < *brikko- and mrecht 'variegated,
>> diversified'. Strange as it may seem, they're not
>> compatible.
> freckle would also seem somehow related, but how?
The OED thinks that it's an alteration of an earlier
<frecken> 'a freckle', from ON <freknur> (pl.) 'freckles';
the adjective <freknóttr> 'freckly' is in Landnámabók, among
others. The MED essentially agrees, given ME <frakles> as
an alteration of <fraknes>; it doesn't mention ON <freknur>,
but it does note <freknóttr>, Norw. dial. <fraknor>, and
Swed. <fräknar>. These clearly all go together, whatever
the ultimate origin.
Brian