Fraa

See also: fraa and frå

Central Franconian

Alternative forms

  • Frau (Ripuarian, parts of Moselle Franconian)
  • Froo (rare Moselle Franconian variant)

Etymology

    From Middle High German vrouwe.

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /fʀaː/

    Noun

    Fraa f (plural Fraaleit or Frahe, diminutive Frääche or Fraache)

    1. (most of Moselle Franconian) woman, wife
      • 1874, Peter Joseph Rottmann, Gedichte in Hunsrücker Mundart, page 4:
        Sei sefriere! wann eich brav Karline
        Loorde in dem naue Lann verdiene,
        Kumm eich wierer, unn Dau gist mei Fraa.
        Be content! When I, dear Karline,
        Am making loads in that foreign land,
        I will come back and you will be my wife.

    Descendants

    • Hunsrik: Fraa
    • Luxembourgish: Fra

    East Central German

    Etymology

    From Middle High German vrouwe, vrowe, from the Old High German frouwa. Compare German Frau.

    Noun

    Fraa f

    1. (Erzgebirgisch) woman
    2. (Erzgebirgisch) wife

    Further reading

    • 2020 June 11, Hendrik Heidler, Hendrik Heidler's 400 Seiten: Echtes Erzgebirgisch: Wuu de Hasen Hoosn haaßn un de Hosen Huusn do sei mir drhamm: Das Original Wörterbuch: Ratgeber und Fundgrube der erzgebirgischen Mund- und Lebensart: Erzgebirgisch – Deutsch / Deutsch – Erzgebirgisch[1], 3. geänderte Auflage edition, Norderstedt: BoD – Books on Demand, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 44:

    Hunsrik

    Alternative forms

    • Froo (Altenhofen spelling)
    • fraa (Wiesemann spelling)

    Etymology

      From Central Franconian Fraa, from Middle High German vrouwe, from Old High German frouwa, from Proto-West Germanic *frauwjā, from Proto-Germanic *frawjǭ, from *frawjô, from Proto-Indo-European *per-.[1]

      Cognate with German Frau, Luxembourgish Fra and Pennsylvania German Fraa.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈfrɔː/
      • Rhymes: -ɔː
      • Syllabification: Fraa

      Noun

      Fraa f (plural Fraae, diminutive Fraache)

      1. woman
        Synonym: Fraamensch
        Sie is en scheene Fraa.
        She is a pretty woman.
      2. wife
        Gret is mein Fraa.
        Gret is my wife.
      3. Miss (form of address for a woman)

      Derived terms

      • Fraaedokter
      • Fraaleit
      • Fraamensch

      References

      1. ^ Piter Kehoma Boll (2021) “Fraa”, in Dicionário Hunsriqueano Riograndense–Português (in Portuguese), 3rd edition, Ivoti: Riograndenser Hunsrickisch, page 59, column 1

      Pennsylvania German

      Etymology

      From Middle High German vrouwe, vrowe, from the Old High German frouwa. Compare German Frau, Dutch vrouw.

      Noun

      Fraa f (plural Weiwer)

      1. woman
      2. wife

      Usage notes

      • The plural actually comes from the term Weib, which in its singular is rarely used.

      Rhine Franconian

      Etymology

      From Middle High German vrouwe, vrowe, from the Old High German frouwa. Compare German Frau, Dutch vrouw.

      Noun

      Fraa

      1. (many dialects, including Palatine) woman

      References

      • Verse und Reime eines alten Pfälzers, in pfälzischer Mundart (1864): e guti Fraa