[Ger-Poland-Volhynia] You clod! WAS: Grudzienski Alternate Name

[Gary Warner]

Al,

Thanks for the information.  I am not sure about being called a "clod", but 
as long as it is not "dumb clod", I can live with it.

Gary Warner

At 01:20 PM 9/23/2003, AlbertMuth at aol.com wrote:
>Please pardon the pun!  Keep reading, I'll explain.
>
>Fred Hoffmann's "Polish Surnames: Origins and
>Meanings" gives a root GRUD- which gives rise
>to the Polish surnames of Gruda, Grudecki,
>Grudka, Grudowski, Grudziecki, Grudzien.
>The entry does allude to the word meaning
>"December", which Jan Textor just alluded to
>in a message here.  The meaning of the root GRUD-
>(in English) is "clod of earth, frozen ground".
>
>One of the German words given in my German-English/
>English-German dictionary for English clod
>is "Klotz".  I do not pretend to be an expert
>in Germanic Philology or Germanistik, but I do
>know that the sounds TZ = T in some dialects
>(compare German ZWEI English TWO).  From KLOTZ to
>KLUTH, the distance is not very far.  I am sure
>we must have some German citizens reading our
>list who may have some knowledge of "Dialektologie",
>who can clarify this matter.
>
>For the record, I teach Spanish and am trained
>in comparative Romance linguistics (romanische
>Philologie).
>
>Therefore, Gary, if I ever call you "Gary,
>you clod", you must remember that I am
>addressing you respectfully as a Kluth
>descendant.  :>)
>
>Semantically, the development must run along
>the same lines as from the Dutch noun BOOR =
>'farmer' to English BOORISH, meaning NOT "farmer-
>like" (positive qualities) but rather "rustic,
>illiterate, clownish".
>
>True etymologies are not easy to discover.  My
>own surname Muth (which rhymes with Kluth!)
>is APPARENTLY transparent since the German word
>MUT means "courage".  However, my family
>tradition is that we originated in Alsace-
>Lorraine, where the surname was Demuth.
>I have lost the link to a French website there
>that gave the etymology of local surnames,
>including both Muth and Demuth--"courage" had
>nothing to do with the origin and historical
>development of the surname. (Sadly, the link
>no longer works)
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Just Another Clod
>(Al Muth)
>
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