(no subject)

[naath]

Died on this day in 1698 aged 68 Elector Ernest of Brunswick-Luneburg(my toy,wikipedia). Ernest married his second cousin once removed Sophia and was the father of George I (Sophia's mother Elizabeth, the Winter Queen, was the daughter of James I&VI hence George's claim to the throne after Anne died with no living children). Sophia's father was Elector Palatine.

Born on this day in 1378 Louis III, Elector Palatine(my toy,wikipedia). Louis III was another Elector Palatine, but from a rather earlier... he married Blanche, the daughter of Henry IV.

"Elector" means that the person got to vote in elections for the Holy Roman Emperor. The County Palatine of the Rhine is in German Pfalzgrafschaft bei Rhein from which I have no idea how we get to "Palatine" ... it existed from 1085 to 1803, although not always the same place. Looking at the map on wikipedia it seems to have been non-contiguous, which is a bit odd and leaves me feeling that I really don't understand German history or geography.

Comments

[pseudomonas]

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Pfalz "From Old High German pfalinza, borrowed from Medieval Latin palatium." (though the steps to get there are not clear to me)

[naath]

Ah, the hill, I knew I'd heard Palatine somewhere else but was failing to put it together. Pfalz seems a lot different, but I don't really know much about sound changes.

[ewx]

The High German Consonant Shift includes [p]→[pf] or →[f] and [t]→[ss] or →[ts], with a consistent set of rules about which is chosen. Have a look in Old English And Its Closest Relatives p232-240 for discussion. It doesn't seem to provide any hints about where that n comes from though.

[lethargic_man]

Kluge's etymological dictionary gives the intermediate form pseudomonas does upthread, but then scratches its head over the N, so even linguists don't know about this... or didn't a century ago at any rate.

[ewx]

Note to the OED etymology of palsgrave:

With Old High German pfalanza , pfalinza , falenza , etc. (Middle High German phalenze , phalze , phalz , German Pfalz ) compare Old Saxon palencea , palensea (Middle Low German palanze , palenze , palz , etc.), Old Frisian palense , Old English palente , palendse (feminine), palant , palent (masculine), all ultimately < post-classical Latin palantia (attested from at least the 10th cent. but probably earlier), alteration (probably after place names in -antia or -untia , although compare also Hellenistic Greek Παλλάντιον ) of palatia , alteration (probably arising from reinterpretation of the neuter plural as feminine singular) of classical Latin palātium palace n.