Re: park, was *pVs- for cat

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott" <BMScott@...> wrote:

>
> At 5:30:26 PM on Monday, July 30, 2007, Rick McCallister
> wrote:
>
> > park is an intersting word
>
> It's worth quoting the OED commentary from the draft
> revision dated March 2007:
>
> Forms: ME paark, ME parck, ME perk, ME perke, ME (18 in
> senses 4, 5) parc, ME-16 parke, ME- park, 16 parcke; Sc.
> pre-17 parke, pre-17 perc, pre-17 perke, pre-17 17- pairk,
> pre-17 17- park, pre-17 17- perk, 19- paerk (Orkney). [<
> Anglo-Norman and Old French, Middle French, French <parc>
> large enclosed area of land or woodland where one keeps
> and raises animals for the hunt (1160-74), enclosed place
> planted with fruit trees, orchard (c1220-78), mobile
> enclosure where one keeps livestock when they sleep in the
> fields, area thus enclosed (1269), large enclosed area of
> land or woodland maintained for the decoration of a castle
> or country house, or for pleasure or recreation, etc.
> (1337), fortified camp (end of the 15th cent.; 1678 in
> <parc d'artillerie>), collection of vehicles which an army
> makes use of (1823; 1894 without military connotations),
> prob. < post-classical Latin <parricus> fence (8th cent.
> in Ripuar. Laws as <parracus>, but prob. earlier: see
> below), pen for animals (9th cent.), park, enclosure (12th
> cent. in a British source; from 13th cent. as <parrocus>),
> prob. < an unattested *<parra> pole, rod (cf. Spanish
> <parra> artificially supported vine, Catalan <parra> (type
> of) vine, Portuguese <parra> grapevine leaf; perh. ult.
> related to the base of Old French <barre> BAR n.1) +
> <-icus> -IC suffix. Cf. post-classical Latin <parcus>
> park, enclosure (freq. from 9th cent. in British sources),
> fence (12th cent. in a British source), pen for animals
> (freq. from 13th cent. in British sources), Old Occitan,
> Occitan <pargue, parc>, Italian <parco> (a1348; prob. <
> French), Spanish <parque> (1512; < French; 1436 as
> <parco>, prob. < Italian), Portuguese <parque> (16th
> cent.; < French), German <Park> (from early 17th cent. in
> travel writings, after English and French; 15th cent. in
> Middle High German in sense 'compound, enclosure'; <
> French). Cf. PARC n.
>
> Currency of post-classical Latin <parricus> earlier than
> the date of its first recorded attestation is suggested by
> the probable early West Germanic loan represented by
> PARROCK n., and also by the widespread currency of
> reflexes in Gallo-Romance dialects and in northern Italy.
> Most (although not all) recent commentators have regarded
> it as less likely that the word is a borrowing from
> Germanic into Latin (as frequently suggested in the past),
> on account of: (1) the initial p- (which is very rare in
> Germanic (see P n.), although it might be explained if the
> word were an earlier borrowing in Germanic from another
> language and not an inherited Indo-European word; this
> might also explain the fact that the word is recorded only
> in West Germanic); (2) the lack of evidence for a
> corresponding simplex in Germanic (although see PARROCK n.
> for discussion of PAR n.2 and PAR v.1); (3) the Latin
> suffix (although it is uncertain whether the vocalism of
> the last syllable in the continental West Germanic forms
> rules out the Germanic suffix -OCK suffix); (4) the
> possibility of Celtic cognates for the Latin word
> (although it is unclear what, if any, evidence there is to
> support the forms posited, e.g. Welsh <parr> enclosed
> place, Breton <par> plot of land); and (5) the possible
> connection with the base of Old French <barre> BAR n.1
> There is thus no completely convincing argument for either
> a Latin or a Germanic origin. In favour of a Germanic
> origin, J. Corominas (Diccionario Crítico Etimológico de
> la Lengua Castellana (1985) s.v. <parra>) argues that
> Occitan <parran> enclosure, garden (a1168) is likely to be
> a borrowing from Germanic on formal grounds, and hence
> that the same is likely to apply for the other Romance
> words.
>
> Welsh <parc> and Irish <páirc> are either < English or
> directly < French; Middle Breton, Breton <park> is <
> French.
>
> S.v. <parrock>:
>
> Forms: OE pearric (perh. transmission error), OE pearroc,
> OE pearrvc (rare), OE pearuc (rare), OE-eME pearruc, eME
> parruc, ME parrok, ME parroke, 15 paroche, 15 parocke, 15
> parrocke, 15-16 parock, 15- parrock, 16 paroc (hist.);
> Eng. regional 16 parruck (north.), 16 purrach (south.), 16
> purrock (south.), 18 parrack, 18- pairock (north.), 18-
> parrick, 18- perrick (north.), 19- parrak (north.); Sc. 17
> parock, 17 19- parreck, 18 parich, 18 parrich, 18 parrok,
> 18- parrach, 18- parrick, 18- parrock, 19- parack, 19-
> parrack, 19- parroch. Cf. PADDOCK n.2 [Cognate with Middle
> Dutch <parc, perc, paerc, parric, perric> enclosed place,
> park (Dutch <perk> flowerbed, park enclosure with animals,
> park; the Dutch word app. shows semantic influence from
> French <parc> PARK n. from an early date, and latterly
> also from English PARK n.), Middle Low German <perk>
> enclosure, Old High German <pfarrih, pferrih> pen,
> enclosure, hurdle (Middle High German <pherrich, pferrich,
> pferich, pherch> means of enclosure, pen, German <Pferch>
> pen, fold (for sheep, etc.); > <pferchen> to fold, pen (an
> animal) (16th cent.)), further etymology uncertain and
> disputed; perh. < post-classical Latin <parricus> (see
> PARK n. and discussion s.v.), although if so PAR n.2 and
> PAR v.1 present difficulties, unless they are of a
> completely different origin (it seems unlikely that they
> show a borrowing from Latin *<parra>). In English the
> ending prob. shows assimilation to the suffix -OCK suffix.
> Cf. PADDOCK n.2
>
> It is uncertain whether (as widely held by earlier
> scholars) Middle Low German <parre>, Old High German
> <pharra> (Middle High German <pharre>, German <Pfarre>)
> parish are ultimately from the same base; if so, they show
> semantic and perh. also formal influence from
> post-classical Latin <parochia> (see PARISH n.), but it is
> also possible that they show borrowings of this word.
>
> Cf. Welsh <parwg> (< Middle English <parrock>).

Several matters deserve comment. The derivation of the monosyllabic ME <park> etc. from OFr <parc>, itself supposedly from ML <parricus> like <clerc> from <clericus>, requires us to believe that the Normans brought over a learned Latinism which largely displaced the established dissyllabic ME <parrok> etc. I find it more plausible that the monosyllabic forms are homegrown. In West Saxon (for example) regular syncope of the middle syllable and degemination in the resulting cluster would give gen. sg. *pearces, dat./inst. sg. *pearce beside nom./acc. sg. <pearroc>. (As illustrations of these soundlaws, <he:afod> 'head' has the same long-short syllabism and oblique cases <he:afdes>, <he:afde>; <fylde> 'filled' comes from *fyllde, by umlaut and syncope from *fullide.) The attested gen. sg. <pearroces> has been remodelled after the nom. sg., but it would be equally straightforward to create a new nom. sg. *pearc after the oblique cases. Thus, some dialects had short forms of the word, others long, and this continued into the ME period with <park> and <parrok> (and their trivial variants). This explains why ML <parcus> is cited from some pre-Conquest documents, and a similar splitting of the paradigm is likely responsible for MD <perk> beside <perrik>, and the like. Also, the Normans probably borrowed the monosyllable from late OE, then spread it to other Gallo-Romance dialects. A type of enclosure for livestock hardly demands a learned Latinism. As noted, Prov. <pargue>, <pargou>, etc. require a protoform *parric-, but this probably reflects a VL *parricus of local origin, not a learned borrowing from ML.

As noted by the OED, the original sense of WGmc *parrukaz, *parrikaz (OHG <pfarrih>, <pferrih>, etc.) was probably 'clathri, hurdles, enclosing fence' rather than 'enclosure' itself. However, the WGmc wk. fem. *parran- (OHG <pfarra>) very likely did mean simply 'enclosure' and I cannot agree with 'circuit, compass, precinct, district' as original; this latter sense was acquired by <pfarra> and its HG successors as a substitute for ML <parochia> 'parish'. The original sense of *parran- is retained in modern East Anglian <par> 'enclosure for domestic animals' (ME *parre, OE *pearre). The ME denominative verb <parren> 'to enclose, confine' ("parred in an hole" ca. 1300), surviving in mod. Dorset dial. <par>, continues OE *pearrian, WGmc *parro:jan. The Ibero-Romance forms, Sp. <parra> 'grapevine supported by stakes or nailed to a wall', Cat. <parra> 'type of grapevine', and Pg. <parra> 'grapevine-leaf' show a development parallel to the Slavic borrowings from Goth. <weinagards> 'vineyard', e.g. Russ. <vinograd> 'grapes collectively; grapevine'. A word denoting an enclosure has been borrowed to indicate the contents of the enclosure. In our case, *parra was probably borrowed into the local Latin spoken by settlers following the Hannibalic War, and what the natives understood as 'enclosure', specifically 'vineyard', came to mean 'grapes collectively' or 'cultured grapevine'.

Corominas's argument that Old Occitan <parran> 'enclosure, garden' looks like Gmc., and so all the Romance forms likely come from Gmc., should be dismissed. Since *parran- has no attestation in Ulfilas we can hardly ascribe it to Gothic, and since wine-making was known in Iberia long before the Goths, a borrowing in this direction would be implausible anyway. Du Cange has citations of the ML form <parran(e)a> from Marseilles and Rodaz:

"Parrana, Parranea, vulgo Parran, Tenementum quod ab uno tenentiario, ut vocant, tenetur, ad discrimen agri, cujus plures simul domini sunt, quem Ruthenenses [i.e. inhabitants of Rodaz] Hortum, vulgo Hort, appellant. ... Occitanis inferioribus Parranea dicuntur agri suburbani, muris fossisque civitatis viciniores. ..."

This -n- could hardly have entered ML from the stem of a weak Gmc. noun. It appears instead that these words continue a local VL *parra:n(e)us formed from *parra 'enclosure', and no formal basis for derivation from Gmc. is evident.

Several substratists, including Hubschmid, have taken the original sense of Ib.-Rom. *parra as 'trellis' and regarded it as a variant of *barra 'horizontal bar, barrier, lever, etc.' which is widely reflected in West Romance. I consider this equation incorrect on both formal and semantic grounds. No compelling evidence has been presented for widespread voicing doublets derived from West Mediterranean substrate. There may be some overlap in the semantic ranges of *parra 'enclosed space' and *barra 'obstacle, barrier, bar', but they are still distinct words. The purpose of a *parra is not to obstruct movement, but to protect the animals or plants inside. Probably West Rom. *barranca 'ravine' and *barrum 'mud, clay' (WM *barri on the grounds of Sp. <barrial> 'muddy spot'?) belong with *barra, since a ravine is an obstacle which is frequently muddy. Some substratists have tried to connect the other Sp. <parra> 'broad low earthen pot or jar with handles, commonly used for honey' with <barro> 'mud, clay'. Again, I consider this incorrect. More likely this *parra 'honey-pot' was originally a circular tray with a raised rim to prevent the contents from spilling. This implement resembled an enclosure for animals, and indeed served as an enclosure for honey, so naturally it would take its name from the other *parra 'enclosure'. Thus, again we have no evidence for general b/p-oscillation in West Med. words.

West Gmc. may well have gotten *parran- from a NWBlock *parra, rather than directly from West Med. substrate itself. It is not clear whether the suffixation yielding *parruk-, *parrik- '(fence) pertaining to the enclosure' was appended in Gmc., NWB, or the WM substrate itself; a /k/-suffix is not very distinctive. Nor is it clear whether Welsh <parr> 'enclosed place' and Breton <par> 'plot of land' were borrowed from early OE, from NWB, or from the WM substrate, perhaps earlier than the Brittonic stage (but obviously after the Common Celtic loss of inherited */p/). If my comments are accepted, 'parrock' provides evidence for the extension of West Med. substrate up the Atlantic coast into the Low Countries, but it gives us no information about NWBlock phonology, since the root has no IE etymology.

DGK