Rangu (Rank?)
Reportedly a name related to haymaking, a stack/stook of stale or musty hay (Nerman & Lõhmus, but word neither found nor conclusive, despite its being named in 2000*. Viires translates rank as ‘trough’ (W. Est. dialect, but provides no genitive) where ranga seems a more common genitive anyway; Forssmann gives rank:ranga as boulder, rock or obstacle; Wiedemann rank:rangi, also trough, or row (of plants), or cross-references rank:ranga to ränk which doesn’t get us very far either, and not a genitive ‑u in sight. At one stage in my sorry past, I found a rank:rangu for ‘ridge or ‘rocky bank’ and a Muhu dialect term for fly, now vanished from the face of the cloud and which we can probably disregard. Plus a Rangu village in Raplamaa, poss. originating from the German name Rank. Unresolved. Mini hay-and-harvest group. See Saadu.
* A possible example of Hamilton’s 4th Law, where very recent naming may borrow terms which might have existed prior to written record if not usage ;o)
