--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Brian Scott <bm.brian@...> wrote:
>
> On 12/25/11, guestu5er <guestuser.0x9357@...> wrote:
>
> >> Of Yiddish <klots>
>
> > Klots is a mere transliteration for English. The same
> > pronunciation as for the spelling Klotz.
>
> >> actually, from MHG <kloz> 'Klumpe,
> >> klumpige Masse; Baumstumpf, Baumklotz'.
>
> My point was not the spelling, but rather that the source is Yiddish,
> not German.
The source of the corresponding words in Swedish and Danish is given as German
http://runeberg.org/svetym/0409.html
(Note also the entry for klottra)
http://ordnet.dk/ods/ordbog?query=klods
http://ordnet.dk/ods/ordbog?query=klodset
Now technically it could be borrowed from Yiddish in both countries
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Denmark
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Sweden
I can't seem to find anything of similar quality of Low German and German influence on Danish and Swedish, but it was profound.
http://www.lowlands-l.net/talk/eng/index.php?page=scandinavian
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Sweden#History
Germans-speakers made up one third of the popultaion of Copenhanhagen until the 19th century, when the wars with Prussia and Austria made the German language unpopular.
This might give an impression of the bilingualness of the Danish state and the layers connected with the state
http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kancelli
Denmark and Norway, with incorporated territories, were run through the Danish Chancellery, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, plus all foreign policy, were run through the German Chancellery.
Considering that German speakers were the largest group of immigrants in the USA, I don't think that the assignment of 'klutz' and similar loans to Yiddish alone is a given thing.
Torsten