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mersc-mear-gealla
noun,
m.,
n-decl.,
3 occ.
Type: plant
Last Update: 19.07.2011 10:53
References Last Update: 22.11.2022 19:26
Meaning Last Update: 16.02.2010 08:13
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A: plant: native
? Gentiana pneumonanthe L., marsh gentian, Lungen-Enzian
Comment Last Update: 19.07.2011 10:53
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Comment on (A): ? Gentiana pneumonanthe L., marsh gentian, Lungen-Enzian
Occurrences Last Update: 29.03.2010 09:37
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Etymology Last Update: 19.07.2011 10:53
- Etymology: Etymology-Comment:
- Word-Formation:
- Word-Formation-Comment:
Image Last Update: 19.07.2011 10:53
? Gentiana pneumonanthe L., marsh gentian, Lungen-Enzian |
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Botanical-Information: stylised plate Source: →reference-information
Fitch, Walter Hood.
Illustrations of the British Flora: London: Reeve, 1924.
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Research Literature
BW I:
Bierbaumer, Peter.
Der botanische Wortschatz des Altenglischen. Grazer Beiträge zur Englischen Philologie 1. Bern, Frankfurt am Main: Lang, 1975.
HEW:
Holthausen, Ferdinand.
Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3., unveränd. Aufl.. Heidelberg: Winter, 1974.
LB:
Cockayne, Oswald Thomas (ed.).
"Leech Book." In: Leechdoms, Wortcunning and Starcraft of Early England. Being a Collection of Documents, for the Most Part never before Printed, Illustrating the History of Sience in this Country before the Norman Conquest. Vol. 2. Rev. Ed. by Charles Singer. London: Longman [et. al.], 1961. 1-360.
LB:
Leonhardi, Günther.
Kleinere angelsächsische Denkmäler I. Bibliothek der ags. Prosa VI. Hamburg: Grand, 1905.
Deegan, Marilyn.
A Critical Edition of MS. B.L. Royal 12.D.XVII: Bald's 'Leechbook'. Diss. Univ. of Manchester. 1988.
Hankins, Freda Richards.
Bald's 'Leechbook' Reconsidered. Diss. Univ. of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 1993.
MS London, British Library, Royal 12 D.xvii.
Wright, Cyril E. (ed.).
Bald's Leechbook. Early English manuscripts in facsimile. 5. Kopenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger, 1955.
[1]:
LB 47/15; also cf. LB 47/12: Gif hors geallede sie.
The identification is based on Cockayne (1961,II,399): he relates OE -gealla 'bile, Galle' to a Gentiana species, and the determinative mersc- 'swamp, Sumpf' to a humid habitat. If meargealla is related to gealla 'swelling, Geschwulst' which is suggested by the illness horses gealla[1], Cockaynes identification has to be refuted.
Etymology: mersc-: 'marsh, fen-land; Marsch, Sumpfland' (cf. Holthausen 1974,s.v.).
-mear-: maybe to OE mearh 'horse, Pferd' (cf. Holthausen 1974,s.v.). But maybe mersc- (cf. →mersc-mealwe) refers to a plant whitch has its habitat near the sea? If so, mergealla has to be regarded as the initial form (to OE mere 'sea, lake; Meer, See'): Mer > mear through assimilation at a distance to -gealla?
-gealla: Holthausen (1974, s.v.): "gealla m. 1. 'Galle' [...] 2. 'Galle, Geschwulst, wunde Stelle, ne. gall, mlat. galla 'Gallapfel, Geschwulst', dazu eorþgealla 'Tausendgüldenkraut', mearhgealla 'Enzian' [...]", while →eorþ-gealla is wrongly associated - it does not belong to gealla 'swelling, Geschwulst' but because of its bitter taste to gealla 'bile, Galle' (= L FEL; cf. eorþgealla = FEL TERRAE) - meargealla could be related to gealla 'swelling, Geschwulst', which the illness horses gealla recorded in the LB suggests. If this is true, Cockayne's interpretation of the plant name, which is based on the plant's bitterness, has to be refuted.