SC - Lebkuchen

[Siegfried Heydrich]

    I always thought it came from 'Lieb', or love. Remember, you have
Hochdeutsch and platdeutsch, and if the recipe originated in an area that
flattens their vowels (like Bayern or Swabia), the phonetic nature of the
written language at the time would have reflected this. Lebkuchen were
Lovecookies . . . Ich liebe dieser Lebkuchen, nicht wahr?

    Sieggy

- ----- Original Message -----

> << where does the 'leb-' come from, in the word 'lebkuchen'? >>
>
> According to the historical dictionaries (e.g. Truebner, Kluge), the
> interpretation of the first element is uncertain. Among the
> possibilities, discussed, are
>
> -- borrowing of lat. _libum_ 'Fladen' 'flat cake'
> -- derivation from a word cognate to _laib_ 'loaf', refering to some
> kind of baking tin.
>
> According to the Kluge dictionary, both assumptions pose problems
> ("Beide Annahmen machen Schwierigkeiten").
>
> Thomas