Digging into it.... apparently not (unfortunately).
The Welsh word for hill is "bryn". Other variations include "rhiw" and "din".
The Saxon word for "hill" is "hoh". This term is used to describe a particular shape of hill, meaning "heel" in Old English.
The Old Norse word for "hill" is "hváll". This term is not commonly used, with "hóll" being the more prevalent word for hill in Old Norse.
BUT..... According to Wiki:
Torpenhow Hill is claimed to be the name of a hill near the village of Torpenhow in Cumbria, England, a name that is tautological. According to an analysis by linguist Darryl Francis and locals, there is no landform formally known as Torpenhow Hill there, either officially or locally, which would make the term an example of a ghost word.
A. D. Mills in his Dictionary of English Place-Names interprets the name as "Ridge of the hill with a rocky peak", giving its etymology as Old English torr, Celtic *penn, and Old English hoh, each of which mean 'hill'. Thus, the name Torpenhow Hill could be interpreted as 'hill-hill-hill Hill'.
In 1688, Thomas Denton stated that Torpenhow Hall and church stand on a 'rising topped hill', which he assumed might have been the source of the name of the village. Denton apparently exaggerated the example to a "Torpenhow Hill", which would quadruple the "hill" element, but the existence of a toponym "Torpenhow Hill" is not substantiated.
In 1884, G. L. Fenton proposed the name as an example of "quadruple redundancy" in tautological place name etymologies, i.e. that all four elements of the name might mean "hill". It was used as a convenient example for the nature of loanword adoption by Thomas Comber around 1880.
Such things are more common than people think: From Wiki (again) -
The name "Avon" is loaned from the Common Brittonic abona, "river", which survives in the Welsh word afon [ˈavɔn]. "River Avon", therefore, literally means "river river"; several other English and Scottish rivers share the name.
What a shame that it's not completely true. But there are lots of other examples. Like Sahara is supposed to mean desert and when we say The Sahara Desert, we just say The Desert Desert. Always fun to read something like that.
Funny. And lovely. Reminds me of a German story where a tourist visits the Netherlands asks the people in the village and they always answer "Kannitverstaan" (I can't understand). He asks who owns the houses and the fields etc. and then thinks this Mr. Kannitverstaan must be very rich. Then he sees a funeral and gets the same answer. So he is sorry for Mr. Kannitverstaan who has to die and cannot enjoy all his wealth.
7 comments:
Is that true?
Digging into it.... apparently not (unfortunately).
The Welsh word for hill is "bryn". Other variations include "rhiw" and "din".
The Saxon word for "hill" is "hoh". This term is used to describe a particular shape of hill, meaning "heel" in Old English.
The Old Norse word for "hill" is "hváll". This term is not commonly used, with "hóll" being the more prevalent word for hill in Old Norse.
BUT..... According to Wiki:
Torpenhow Hill is claimed to be the name of a hill near the village of Torpenhow in Cumbria, England, a name that is tautological. According to an analysis by linguist Darryl Francis and locals, there is no landform formally known as Torpenhow Hill there, either officially or locally, which would make the term an example of a ghost word.
A. D. Mills in his Dictionary of English Place-Names interprets the name as "Ridge of the hill with a rocky peak", giving its etymology as Old English torr, Celtic *penn, and Old English hoh, each of which mean 'hill'. Thus, the name Torpenhow Hill could be interpreted as 'hill-hill-hill Hill'.
In 1688, Thomas Denton stated that Torpenhow Hall and church stand on a 'rising topped hill', which he assumed might have been the source of the name of the village. Denton apparently exaggerated the example to a "Torpenhow Hill", which would quadruple the "hill" element, but the existence of a toponym "Torpenhow Hill" is not substantiated.
In 1884, G. L. Fenton proposed the name as an example of "quadruple redundancy" in tautological place name etymologies, i.e. that all four elements of the name might mean "hill". It was used as a convenient example for the nature of loanword adoption by Thomas Comber around 1880.
The La Brea Tar Pits really does point down to The The Tar Tar Pits, though. :D
Such things are more common than people think: From Wiki (again) -
The name "Avon" is loaned from the Common Brittonic abona, "river", which survives in the Welsh word afon [ˈavɔn]. "River Avon", therefore, literally means "river river"; several other English and Scottish rivers share the name.
What a shame that it's not completely true. But there are lots of other examples. Like Sahara is supposed to mean desert and when we say The Sahara Desert, we just say The Desert Desert. Always fun to read something like that.
Kangaroo is supposed to be another one. In the local dialect I've heard its "I have no idea"....
Funny. And lovely. Reminds me of a German story where a tourist visits the Netherlands asks the people in the village and they always answer "Kannitverstaan" (I can't understand). He asks who owns the houses and the fields etc. and then thinks this Mr. Kannitverstaan must be very rich. Then he sees a funeral and gets the same answer. So he is sorry for Mr. Kannitverstaan who has to die and cannot enjoy all his wealth.
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