Lakes of the Lake District: Difference between revisions
→The origin of "lake": additional text and links for lake etymology
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Before we move on, let's have a quick look at where these words are derived. Lake District place names take a lot of influence from {{w1|Old Norse}} as well as {{w1|Old English}}. Words prefixed with a * are [[Wiktionary:Reconstructed terms| reconstructed words]]. This means they have not been directly attested, but instead are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.
==
The word ''lake''
The Middle English ''lake'' ("stream, pool, lake") is related to Dutch ''[[wiktionary:laak#Dutch|laak]]'' ("stream, drainage ditch, pond"), Low German ''[[wiktionary:Lake#German_Low_German|Lake, Laak]]'' ("drainage, marshland"), German ''[[wiktionary:Lache#German|Lache]]'' ("puddle, pool"), Icelandic ''[[wiktionary:lækur#Icelandic|lækur]]'' ("stream"), and comes from the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/leg-|*leg-]]'', which means ("to leak"). The descendants of this word follow more than one lineage. However, below shows the progression through the Germanic/English lineage. Words in '''bold''' shows the merging period:
*Proto-
*
***Old English: ''[[wiktionary:
****Middle English: '''''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED24590/track?counter=1&search_id=23368488 lāke, lac]''''' →
▲*English: ''[[wiktionary:lake#English|lake]]'' → a large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid
*****English: ''[[wiktionary:lake#English|lake]]'' → a large, landlocked stretch of water or similar liquid
From the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/
===The origin of "mere"===▼
*Proto-Italic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/lakus|lakus]]'' → lake
The word ''mere'' comes from Old English ''[https://bosworthtoller.com/22650 mere]'', meaning a "lake" or a "pool". In compound words it could also mean "sea". It is interesting to note how the word, from its earliest root through to present day, has very similar meanings, not only through time but also across a broad spectrum of European countries.▼
**Latin ''[[wiktionary:lacus#Latin|lacus]]'' → lake, pond, basin, reservoir
***Old French ''[[wiktionary:lai#Old_French|lai]]'' → pond, lake (displaced)
***Old French ''[[wiktionary:lac#Old French|lac]]''<sup>?</sup> → lake
****Middle French '''''lac''''' → lake
*****French ''[[wiktionary:lacFrench|lac]]'' → lake
*****Norman ''[[wiktionary:lac#Norman|lac]]'' → lake (from {{w1|Jersey}})
The displacement of Old French ''lai'' could have been assisted by influence from the early Middle English words ''lac, lace'', and the Old English word ''lacu'' (“pool, pond, lake”), as a result of ''lac's'' sudden spread in Old French. This was brought about following the annexation of English controlled Normandy into the kingdom of France in 1204. A full-out borrowing of the term from Middle English rather than from the Latin is also not an impossibility, as the earliest attestations of Old French ''lac'' are in the {{w1|Eadwine Psalter}} (written by Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman scribes in England) and {{w1|Erec and Enide}} (an Arthurian romance, whose author was heavily influenced by English, Anglo-Norman, and Celtic writings).<ref>''[[Wiktionary:lac#Old_French|Lac]]''. [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:Main_Page Wiktionary] Accessed 27 April, 2023.</ref>
▲From the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/móri|*móri]]'', which means sea or standing water, the following descendants follow the English lineage:
''Lake'' in the present instance is simply a large body of water that is completely surrounded by land, which easily describes all of the big lakes in the Lake District regardless of location.
▲The word ''mere'' comes from Old English ''[https://bosworthtoller.com/22650 mere]'', meaning a ("lake") or
From the original reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root word ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/móri|*móri]]'', which means ("sea") or ("standing water"), the descendants of this word follow the English lineage:
*Proto-Germanic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mari|*mari]]'' → sea, ocean, lake, body of water
**Proto-West-Germanic ''[[wiktionary:Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/mari|*mari]]'' → sea or lake
***Old English ''[[wiktionary:mere#Old_English|mere]]'' → lake, pool or (compound) sea
****Middle English ''[https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary/dictionary/MED27421/track?counter=1&search_id=23362984 mere]'' → lake, pond, pool; also, a sea or an ocean
*****English ''[[wiktionary:mere#Etymology_3|mere]]'' → A body of standing water, such as a lake or a pond. More specifically, it can refer to a lake that is broad in relation to its depth.
It should be noted that Old English ''mere'' also corresponds with Old Frisian ''mere'', Old Saxon ''meri'', Old Dutch ''*meri'' and Old High German ''meri''. It is cognate with West Frisian ''[[wiktionary:mar#Etymology_2_6|mar]]'', Dutch ''[[wiktionary:meer#Dutch|meer]]'', and German ''[[wiktionary:Meer#German|Meer]]''. Like the English lineage above, they also derive from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic ''*mari''.
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