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fact that OTeut. kannjan is a factitive of the OTeut. pret.-pres. kann, inf. kunnan, ‘to know’; erkennen is a derivative ‘to inform oneself.’ Comp. further references under können. Kerbe, f., ‘notch,’ from MidHG. kërbe, f., kërp, m., ‘incision, notch,’ Comp. OIc. kjarf, kerfe, n., ‘bundle,’ AS. cyrf, ‘incision.’ kerben, vb. ‘to notch,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kërben (with a str. partic. gekurben in Lower Rhen.); an orig. str. vb. with the graded forms kërfan, karf, kurbum, korban (comp. AS. čeorfan, E. to carve, Du. kerven); the final f of the stem kerf is attested by the MidHG. kërve, a variant of kërbe; Goth. *kaírfan is wanting. The root kerf is found also in Gr. γράφω, ‘to write,’ prop. ‘to cut in, scratch’ (comp. HG. reißen with E. to write), which with Teut. kerf points to a Sans. root *gṛph. Kerbel, m., ‘chervil,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kërvele, kërvel, f. and m., OHG. kërvola, kërvela, f., ‘a culinary and medicinal herb’; comp. AS. čerfille, E. chervil. It was probably naturalised in Germany before the OHG. period, and is derived from Lat. cœrifolium (χαιρέφυλλον), whence also Fr. cerfeuil, Ital. cerfoglio, which were borrowed at a period when the initial c before open vowels was still pronounced k; comp. Keller, Kerker, Kaiser, Kreuz, Pech, &c. In the period before the HG. permutation of consonants, the Ital. art of cookery and horticulture, and with the latter many southern vegetables and herbs, were introduced into Germany; comp. Rappes, Pfeffer, Minze, Kohl, and Keller, Kerker, m., ‘gaol,’ from the equiv. MidHG. karkœre, kęrkœre, kęrker, m., OHG. karkâri, m., ‘prison'; from Lat. carcerem, probably more strictly from karkerim (comp. OHG. krûzi, from Lat. crucem under Kreuz), so that the final i of the OHG. word would represent the -em of the acc. (comp. Kelch, Linse). Even in Goth. karkara, f., ‘prison,’ is found, corresponding to AS. cearcern, OIr. carcar. In the HG. word the second k shows that Kerker was borrowed before the OHG. period, since borrowed terms in OHG. such as chrûzi, from crucem, pronounce the c as tz before open vowels; comp. Kaiser, Kelch, Keller, Kerbel, and Pech. Kerl, m., ‘fellow.’ a MidG. and LG. form for MidHG. karl, m., ‘man, husband, lover,’ OHG. karal; OIc. karl, m., ‘man (opposed to woman), old man, one of the common folk, serf, servant,’ hence E. carl, |
‘fellow, man.’ Besides these terms, which indicate Goth. *karla-, there appears a form kerla- (Goth. *kaírla-) allied to them by gradation, and assumed by AS. čeorl, ‘serf’ hence čeorlian, ‘to take a husband, marry’), MidE. cheorl, E. churl, as well as by Du. kerel, Fris. tzerl, LG. kêrl, kerel (wanting in OSax.). As a proper name the HG. Karl was retained without being supplanted by the MidG. and LG. form; on the adoption of Karl by Slav. see under Kaiser. Both words denoted a full-grown man (generically, ‘husband, lover,’ and also ‘male of animals’ in OHG. and AS.; legally, ‘man of the lower orders’); in AS. ceorl, ‘man,’ retained the entire signification, since it is used even of kings, and in the derivative ceorlian, ‘to marry,’ it preserves its generic meaning and its legal aspect in being applied to the common freemen and the serf. References in non-Teut. cannot be adduced with any certainty; the comparison of kerl, karl, with Sans. jâra (j for g), ‘paramour, lover,’ is possible as far as the stem is concerned; the l of the Teut. word is at all events a suffix. With regard to the gradation Kerl, Karl, comp. Käfer, Giebel, Kiefer, Laut, &c.
Kern, m., ‘kerne, stone (of fruit), pith,’ from the equiv. MidHG. kërn, kërne, m. OHG. kërno, m.; corresponding to OIc. kjarne, m., ‘kernel.’ A corresponding Goth. *kaîrnó, m., is wanting (for which we have kaúrnô, n.?). AS. cyrnel, and the equiv. E. kernel are connected phonetically more nearly with Korn, since a derivative of Kern in E. would have an initial ch. OTeut. kerna- and korna- are allied by gradation to each other just as Brett and Bord, Kerl and Karl. kernen, vb., ‘to churn,’ allied to E. churn, AS. *čirne, *čyrne, Du. karn, OIc. kirna, f., ‘churn,’ with which AS. čyrnan, E. to churn, and the equiv. Du. karnen are also connected. Akin to ModHG. (Up. Palat.) kern, ‘cream,’ MidDu. kerne, Scand. (Ic.) kjarne, ‘cream,’ which perhaps are identical with Kern. Probably Teut. kirnjôn, ‘churn,’ and kirnjan, ‘to churn,’ are prim. derivatives of *kerno-, ‘cream.’ Kerze, f., ‘taper, wax-light, candle,’ from MidHG. kęrze, ‘candle, taper,’ espec. ‘wax candle,’ OHG. chęrza, charza, f., charz, m., ‘taper, wick, tow.’ We have to proceed from the latter in tracing the development of meaning in Kerze (comp. OIc. kerte, n., ‘wax-light’; ‘tow, wick made of tow, wick |
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