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The meaning of the verb „heischen“ occurs in standard German in special context only, especially in poetic language. In some Rhenish idioms of the German language space this lexeme is documented with the same meaning as in the Transylvanian Saxon idiom. Notable is the meaning “to woo”, “to ask for the bride’s hand” and idioms with a special wording that is specific to the Transylvanian-Saxon idiom only. This case study exemplifies how Transylvanian Saxon, removed from the German language space, is handling the linguistic thesaurus brought over centuries ago via emigration from the old country and how it adds its own meanings through a mixture and balance of language, a phenomenon specific to the colonial idioms.
The aim of this article is to elaborate on the nouns listed in the title based on selected vernacular records, which in a certain phrase, but also by themselves, express the meanings making troubles/difficulties and seeking excuses/evasions. First of all, Transylvanian Saxon and High German respectively the German colloquial language have these lexemes in common, as well as vernacular words that do not belong to this linguistic level. Furthermore, it should be clarified that these vernacular words are attested in different sound variants from case to case in the Rhenish, in the Palatine and in the Bavarian-Austrian vernaculars, in the same or similar meanings in corresponding vernacular dictionaries. Transylvanian Saxon proper vocabulary is represented by a borrowing from Latin and two borrowings from Romanian. The dialect documents presented in the article are taken from the Transylvanian-Saxon Dictionary, its archive, the North Transylvanian Dictionary as well as from dialect and specialist literature. The etymological explanations respectively the etymological considerations of the analyzed lexemes have been prepared mainly based on relevant specialist dictionaries.