Clinton Township Newsletter

1 8 O c t O b e r 2 0 1 4 www.ClintonTwpNewsletter.com t h e h u n t e r d o n c o u n t y c u l t u r a l a n d h e r I t a g e c o m m I s s I o n "Jersey, By Any Other Name..." Part 3 B y F r a n k c u r c I o Iarsey, Iersey, Gersey, and Jarsey are all spellings of Jersey found on 17th and 18th Century maps of both the English Channel island and our State. The first two spellings are easily explained. The letter J did not enter into the Latin alphabet (the alphabet used in western European languages until around 1530). It is the last letter adopted into the alphabet. The only letters used less frequently in English than J are: Z, Q and X. It replaced a vocal variation of the letter I (pronounced like the Y in yet) tinged with the Zh sound (think of Taj). G e r s e y i s a l s o easily explained. Soft-G is charac- teristic of English words with French roots while hard-G words have a Ger- manic basis. The Channel Islands, re- member, were part of France. The Jarsey is a mystery. The switch from jar–zee to jerr–zee is much easier to explain. English spelling and pronunciation are crap-shoots. Do other languages need SpellCheck on their computers? And the words jarsey and jersey begin with R-controlled vowels, the biggest crap-shoot of all—think of word, bird and verb. But what is jarsey? There are two ways to study the jersey name: 1) The island was named after the cloth 2) The cloth was named after the island. When I first researched this twelve years ago, I opted for #1. (I'm old, so # means number, pound or sharp, not hashtag, whatever that is). The islanders were Norman–French–Vikings. Normandy (of D–Day fame) was invaded by Vikings (Northmen) who became Frenchified. The Viking sail- ing ships were powerful because of their sails, which were woven from a dense natural wool that was loaded with lanolin, rendering the fabric water repellent. The islanders developed a method of using a lighter weight wool to tightly weave a fabric that was made into what the Brits call a pullover and we call a sweater. The tight weaving and the natural lanolin rendered the tunic-like sweaters wind-proof and water-proof. It became the must-have garment for mariners, sailors and fishermen. The fabric resulted from a secret way the islanders shook — jarred — the loom at a certain point in the weaving process. The fabric became known as jar–zee from the jarring motion that created it. Their cus- tomers, primarily sailors, would say they're headed to that jar–zee island to get a pullover — giving the island its name. As satisfying as that is, not being one who leaves well enough alone, I continued seeking other possible answers to the jersey name. More Next Time (December), F r a n k c u r c I o Detail from a 1696 map in the Library of Congress, showing the Jarsey formulation of State's name. "I'll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween." ~Author Unknown MATT'S SMALL ENGINE REPAIR Call Anytime: Matt Harrison cell: 908.296.3951 www.mattsrepairshop.com Log Splitter, Leaf Vac, Walk-Behind Blowers, Generators, Rototillers Ask Us About Our End-of-Season Lawn Tractor and Pre-Season Snow-Blower Service Specials! • Small Shop • Fast Turn-Around Joseph F Trinity Steven D Farsiou Jeffrey S Raefski Richard J. Delello 47 MAPLE AVENUE, SUITE 7 FLEMINGTON, NJ 08822 908.824.7265 w w w. T r i n i t ya n d Fa rsio u . c o m • PERSONAL INJURY • EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION • CRIMINAL/MUNICIPAL COURT • ANTI-BULLYING LAW • GENERAL CIVIL LITIGATION

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