[lit-ideas] The Keel Row

 
In a message dated 10/29/2004 2:51:58 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
JLS can  give us some thoughts on the oddness of the word, and whether
the Goth  "kilpam," "womb" (from which we derive "children") has  some
connection--that my SOED is not revealing--to the roots of  "kill."  Wouldn't
that be strange.
 
----
 
Below, the OED etym. for 'kill'.
 
It is interesting the reference to Scottish forms 'kele' (cf. Tyneside 'The  
Keel Row'). Again, Geary knows more about this stuff, since some of the 
Northern  British folklore (foxhunting, etc.) was imported (or exported, etc.) 
to 
the  South (of America).
 
Cheers,
 
JL
 
-- 
 
'kill' from the OED
 
[Of obscure  origin; not found in the cognate langs. 

If in OE., its type would be *cyllan, conjecturally referred to an  OTeut. 
*kuljan, ablaut-variant of *kwaljan, whence OE.  cwellan to _QUELL_ 
(http://0-dictionary.oed.com.csulib.ctstateu.edu/cgi/crossref?query_typ
e=word&queryword=kill&edition=2e&first=1&max_to_show=10&sort_type=alpha&search_id=wM8F-p5MqN9-387&
result_place=5&xrefed=OED&xrefword=quell) ; but  the original sense is 
against this. Known first in Layamon, and in southern  texts, in form cüllen, 
küllen. In midl. dial. normally  kille(n, kill, the common form in ME.; kelle 
is  
rare. The usual Sc. form in 15-16th c. was kele, keill, the vowel  of which is 
difficult to account for. In ME. the pa. tense and pa. pple. varied  between 
killed and kild; exceptionally the pple. appears as  kilt (cf. spilt), now 
regarded as an Irishism, and sometimes used  jocularly, esp. in sense 6b.] 


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