The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch, by George Tobias Flom This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net Title: Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch Author: George Tobias Flom Release Date: January 5, 2005 [EBook #14604] Language: English Character set encoding: UTF-8 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SOUTHERN LOWLAND SCOTCH *** Produced by David Starner, Louise Hope and the PG Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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This e-book includes a number of special characters and diacritics.
Characters:
ə (schwa)
œ (oe ligature)
ð, þ, ȝ
(eth, thorn, yogh— used here to approximate Gaelic g)
Diacritics:
ǧ (g with caron)
á é ǽ (vowel with acute accent)
ā ē ǣ (vowel with macron = long vowel)
ă ĕ æ̆ (vowel with breve = short vowel)
ę ǫ (vowel with ogonek)
Diacritics in combination:
ā̆ ē̆ (breve and macron)
ę̄ ę̆ (ogonek and macron or breve)
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AMS PRESS, INC.
NEW YORK
1966
Copyright 1900, Columbia University Press,
New York
Reprinted with the permission of the
Original Publisher, 1966
AMS PRESS, INC.
New York, N.Y. 10003
1966
Manufactured in the United States of America
Errata (Author's List with Transcriber's Additions)
Abbreviations: Reference Works
Abbreviations: Languages, Grammar
P. vi, l. 10, for norrnøe, read norrøne.
P. viii, l. 5, for Wyntown, read Wyntoun and so elsewhere.
P. x, l. 11 from bottom, for Koolmann, read Koolman and so elsewhere.
P. xi, l. 1, for Paul, read Kluge; l. 2, for Hermann Paul, read Friedrich Kluge.
P. 5, l. 6 from bottom, for in York, read and York.
P. 13, last line, for or ǣ ę̄, read ǣ or ę̄.
P. 18, l. 3 from bottom, for Skaif, read Skæif.
P. 19, l. 13, for is to, read is to be.
P. 21, l. 10, for Fiad, read Faid.
P. 26, l. 2, aparasta should be aprasta.
P. 31, under Bront (See Skeat brunt) should be See Skeat brunt.
P. 32, under Byrd, for bōræ, read böræ.
P. 47, under Hansel, for Bruce, V, 120, Hansell used ironically means "defeat," read: Bruce, V, 120, hansell, etc.
P. 50, under Laike, for i-diphthong, read æi-diphthong.
P. 66, under Swarf, in the last line for O. Fr. read O. F.
P. 74, l. 19, for e to a, read e to æ.
[Transcriber's Note:
The above changes, listed in the printed
book, have been made in the e-text and marked with popups
like this.
In addition, all references to Paul's Grundriss, 2 Auflage,
I Band
have been regularized to P. G.2 I
to agree with the author's list of abbreviations, p. x.
The following apparent errors have not been changed but are noted here:
P. 5, last line, the form bỳr
?should be the form býr
P. 28 Bein, bene, bein: duplication.
P. 28 under Bing, Douglass
?should be Douglas.
P. 29 under Blout, blowt, Douglas, III, 76; II,
?should be Douglas, III, 76, 11.
P. 31 Brokit, Brukit: atypical capitalization.
P. 42 Frae, Frae: atypical capitalization.
P. 49 under Irking, Winyet, II, 76; I
?should be II, 76, 1.
P. 57 Roop and Stoop: atypical capitalization.
P. 69 under Skyle, Fer.
?should be Far.
P. 79 under ǣ, ǣ > e, e
?should be ǣ > a, e
End of Transcriber's Note.]
v
This work aims primarily at giving a list of Scandinavian loanwords found in Scottish literature. The publications of the Scottish Text Society and Scotch works published by the Early English Text Society have been examined. To these have been added a number of other works to which I had access, principally Middle Scotch. Some words have been taken from works more recent—"Mansie Wauch" by James Moir, "Johnnie Gibb" by William Alexander, Isaiah and The Psalms by P. Hately Waddell—partly to illustrate New Scotch forms, but also because they help to show the dialectal provenience of loanwords. Norse elements in the Northern dialects of Lowland Scotch, those of Caithness and Insular Scotland, are not represented in this work. My list of loanwords is probably far from complete. A few early Scottish texts I have not been able to examine. These as well as the large number of vernacular writings of the last 150 years will have to be examined before anything like completeness can be arrived at.
I have adopted certain tests of form, meaning, and distribution. With regard to the test of the form of a word great care must be exercised. Old Norse and Old Northumbrian have a great many characteristics in common, and some of these are the very ones in which Old Northumbrian differs from West Saxon. It has, consequently, in not a few cases, been difficult to decide whether a word is a loanword or not. Tests that apply in the South prove nothing for the North. Brate rightly regarded leȝȝkenn in the Ormulum as a Scandinavian loanword, but in Middle Scotch laiken or laken would be the form of the word whether Norse or genuine English. Certain well-known tests of form, however, first formulated by Brate, such as ou for O. E. ea, or the assimilation of certain consonants apply as well to Scotch as to Early Middle English. The distribution of a word in English dialects frequently helps to ascertain its real history, and may become a final test where those of form and meaning leave us in doubt. In the study of Norse or Scandinavian influence on Lowland Scotch the question of Gaelic vi influence cannot be overlooked. The extent of Norse influence on Celtic in Caithness, Sutherland and the Western Highlands, has never been ascertained, nor the influence of Celtic on Lowland Scotch. A large number of Scandinavian loanwords are common to Gaelic, Irish, and Lowland Scotch. It is possible that some of these have come into Scotch through Gaelic and not directly from Norse. Perhaps faid, "a company of hunters," is such a word.
There are no works bearing directly on the subject of Scandinavian elements in Lowland Scotch proper. J. Jakobsen's work, "Det norrøne Sprog på Shetland," has sometimes given me valuable hints. From Brate's well-known work on the Ormulum I have derived a great deal of help. Steenstrup's "Danelag" has been of assistance to me, as also Kluge's "Geschichte der englischen Sprache" in Paul's Grundriss, the latter especially with regard to characteristics of Northern English. Wall's work on "Scandinavian Elements in English Dialects" has been especially helpful because of the excellent list of loanwords given. In many cases, however, my own investigations have led me to different conclusions, principally with regard to certain tests and the dialectal provenience of loanwords. Finally, the excellent editions of Scottish texts published by the S.T.S. and the E.E.T.S. have made the work less difficult than it otherwise would have been. I may mention particularly "The Bruce," Dunbar, and Montgomery, where Scandinavian elements are very prominent.
viiK.Q. = The "Kingis Quair" of James I., ed. W.W. Skeat. S.T.S. 1.
Dunbar = Bishop Dunbar's Works, ed. by John Small, R.J.G. Mackay and W. Gregor. S.T.S. 2, 4, 16, 21, 29.
Rolland = "The Court of Venus" by John Rolland, ed. W. Gregor. S.T.S. 3.
Dalr. = Leslie's History of Scotland, translated by Dalrymple, ed. E.G. Cody. S.T.S. 5, 14, 19, 34.
Wallace = Henry the Minstrel's "Wallace," ed. James Moir. S.T.S. 6, 7, 17.
Montg. = Alexander Montgomery's Poems, ed. James Cranstoun. S.T.S. 9, 10, 11.
Gau = "Richt way to the hevinlie Kingdom," by John Gau, ed. A.F. Mitchell. S.T.S. 12.
Winyet = "Certain Tractates," by Ninian Winyet, ed. J.K. Hewison. S.T.S. 15, 52.
Sat. P. = Satirical Poems of the Time of the Reformation, ed. J. Cranstoun. S.T.S. 20, 24, 28, 30.
Buchanan = Vernacular Writings of George Buchanan, ed. P.H. Brown. S.T.S. 26.
Bruce = Barbour's "Bruce," ed. W.W. Skeat. E.E.T.S. Extra Series II, 21, 29.
Lyndsay = Sir David Lyndsay's Works, containing "The Monarchie," "Squire Meldrum," "The Dream," and "Ane Satire of the Three Estates," ed. F. Hall. E.E.T.S. 11, 19, 35, 37.
C.S.= "The Complaynt of Scotland," ed. J.A.H. Murray. E.E.T.S. 17.
L.L.= "Lancelot of the Laik," ed. W.W. Skeat. E.E.T.S. 6.
viii R.R. = "Ratis Raving" and other Moral and Religious Pieces in Prose and Verse, ed. J. Rawson Lumby. E.E.T.S. 43.
Douglas = The Poetical Works of Gawain Douglas in 4 vols., ed. John Small. Edinburgh. 1874.
Wyntoun = "The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland," by Andrew of Wyntoun, ed. David McPherson. 2 vols. London. 1795.
R. and L. = "Roswell and Lillian," ed. O. Lengert. Englische Studien 16.
Gol. and Gaw. = "Golagros and Gawain," ed. Moritz Trautmann. Anglia II.
Scott = The Poems of Alexander Scott, ed. Andrew Laing. Edinburgh. 1821.
Philotus = "Philotus, A Comedy imprinted at Edinburgh by Robert Charters, 1603." Published by the Bannatyne Club. Edinburgh. 1835.
Anc. Pro. = Collection of Ancient Scottish Prophecies in Alliterative Verse, 1603. Published by the Bannatyne Club. 1833.
Poet. Rem. = The Poetical Remains of Some of the Scottish Kings, containing "Peblis to the Play," "Christ's Kirk on the Green," "The Gaberlunzie Man," and "Ane Ballad of Good Council," ed. George Chalmers. London. 1824.
Sco. Poems = Scottish Poems in 3 vols. containing "The Tales of the Priests of Peblis," "Ballads" (1508), Holland's "Howlate," "The Bloody Sark" of Robert Henrison, and "Sir Gawain and Sir Galaron" of Galloway. London. 1792.
A.P.B.S. = Ancient Popular Ballads and Songs, ed. Robert Jamieson. Edinburgh. 1806.
Fergusson = The Works of Robert Fergusson, ed. David Irving. Greenock. 1810.
Irving = History of Scottish Poetry, containing a number of extracts, ed. David Irving. Edinburgh. 1874.
Scotticisms = Scotticisms Corrected. London. 1855.
Ramsay = The Poems of Allan Ramsay, in 2 vols. Printed by A. Strahan for T. Cadwell and W. Davies. London. 1800.
Burns = The Works of Robert Burns, ed. Dr. Adolphus Wagner. Leipzig. 1835.
Isaiah = Isaiah, frae Hebrew intil Scottis, by P. Hately Waddell. Edinburgh and Glasgow. 1879.
ix Psalms = The Psalms, frae Hebrew intil Scottis, by P. Hately Waddell. Edinburgh and Glasgow. 1891.
M.W. = "Mansie Wauch," by D.M. Moir. Edinburgh. 1898. Centenary Edition.
J.G. = "Johnnie Gibb of Gushetneuk," by William Alexander (1871). Edinburgh. 1897.
Aasen = Norsk Ordbog, af Ivar Aasen. Christiania. 1873. Generally referred to as Norse.
B-T. = The Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Referred to generally as Old English.
B-S. = Bradley's Stratmann's Middle English Dictionary. References to Middle English forms are to B-S., unless otherwise specified.
Brate = "Nordische Lehnwörter im Ormulum." Paul und Braunes Beiträge, X. 1885.
Brem. W. = Bremisch-Niedersächsisches Wörterbuch. Bremen. 1767.
Bouterwek = Die vier Evangelien in alt-nordhumbrischer Sprache. Karl Bouterwek. Gütersloh. 1857.
Cl. and V. = Cleasby and Vigfusson's Icelandic-English Dictionary. Oxford. 1874. Old Norse words have been taken largely from Cl. and V.
Cook = A Glossary of the Old Northumbrian Gospels. A.S. Cook. Halle. 1894.
Craigie = Oldnordiske Ord i de gæliske Sprog. W.A. Craigie, in Arkiv for nordisk Filologie X. pp. 149ff.
Curtis = An Investigation of the Rimes and Phonology of the Middle Scotch Romance "Clariodus," by F.J. Curtis, in Anglia XVI and XVII.
Dickinson = A Glossary of the Words and Phrases of Cumberland. William Dickinson. Whitehaven and London. 1859.
D.S.C.S. = The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, by J.A.H. Murray. London. 1873.
x Egge = Norse words in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Albert Egge. Pullman, Washington. 1898.
E.D.D. = The English Dialect Dictionary, A to C, ed. Joseph Wright. Oxford. 1898.
Ellis = On Early English Pronunciation. Vol. 5, by Alexander J. Ellis. Early English Text Society, Extra Series 56.
Fritzner = Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog. Johan Fritzner. Christiania. 1886-1896.
Gibson = The Folkspeech of Cumberland, by A.C. Gibson. London. 1873.
Haldorson = Lexicon Islandico-Latino-Danicum, Biornonis Haldorsonii. Havniae. 1814.
Jakobsen = Det norrøne Sprog på Shetland, by J. Jakobsen. Köbenhavn. 1897. Shetland dialect forms are generally taken from this work.
Jamieson = Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language.
Jellinghaus = Angelsächsisch-Neuenglische Wörter, die nicht niederdeutsch sind, by H. Jellinghaus, in Anglia XX. Pp. 46-466.
Kalkar = Ordbog til det ældre danske Sprog. Otto Kalkar. Köbenhavn. 1881-1892.
Lindelöf = Glossar zur altnordhumbrischen Evanglienübersetzung in der Rushworth-Handschrift (in Acta Societatis Scientiarum Fennicae Tome XXII., No. 5), von Uno Lindelöf. Helsingfors. 1897.
Kluge P. G.2 I. = Kluge's "Geschichte der englischen Sprache," in Paul's Grundriss, 2 Auflage, I Band.
Kluge and Lutz = English Etymology, by F. Kluge and F. Lutz. Strassburg. 1898.
Koolman = Wörterbuch der ostfriesischen Sprache. J. ten Doornkaat Koolman. Norden. 1879-1884. Sometimes cited as Low German.
Luik = Untersuchungen zur englischen Lautgeschichte. Strassburg. 1896.
Molbech = Dansk Ordbog. C. Molbech. Kjöbenhavn. 1859. Referred to generally as Danish.
N.E.D. = The New English Dictionary, A to Frankish, ed. J.A.H. Murray.
Noreen P. G.2 I. = Noreen's "Geschichte der nordischen Sprachen," in Paul's Grundriss, 2 Auflage, 1 Band.
xi Kluge = Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache. Friedrich Kluge. Strassburg. 1894.
Richthofen (or O. F.) = Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, von Karl Freiherrn von Richthofen. Göttingen. 1840.
Rietz (or Sw. dial.) = Svenskt Dialekt-Lexikon. J.E. Rietz. Malmö. 1867.
Ross = Norsk Ordbog. Tillæg til Ivar Aasen's Ordbog. Hans Ross. Christiania. 1895.
Schiller und Lübben = Mittelniederdeutsches Wörterbuch. Bremen. 1875-1880. Cited as M.L.G.
Schlyter = Glossarium til Skånelagen (Sveriges Gamle Lagar IX.). C.J. Schlyter. Lund. 1859.
O.S. = Old Saxon. Schmellers Glossarium Saxonicum e Poemate Heliand. Tübingae. 1840.
Sievers = Altenglische Grammatik. Eduard Sievers. 3 Auflage. 1898.
Skeat = Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. Oxford. 1882; and Concise Etymological Dictionary. Oxford. 1897.
Skeat's list = A List of English Words, the Etymology of which is illustrated by Comparison with Icelandic. W.W. Skeat. Oxford. 1876.
Steenstrup = Danelag (Vol. IV. of "Normannerne"). J.C.H.R. Steenstrup. Kjöbenhavn. 1882.
Sweet = Student's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary. Henry Sweet. Oxford. 1897.
Söderwall = Ordbok öfver svenska Medeltids Språket, A to L. K.F. Söderwall. Lund. 1884-1890.
Thorkelson = Supplement til islandske Ordböger. Jon Thorkelson. Reykjavik. 1876-1897.
Wall = "Scandinavian Elements in the English Dialects," by Arnold Wall. Anglia XX.
Worsaae = Minder om de Danske og Normændene i England, Skotland, og Irland, af J.J.A. Worsaae. Kjöbenhavn. 1851.
adj. = adjective.
adv. = adverb.
xii
cp. = compare.
conj. = conjunction.
Cu. = Cumbrian, Cumberland.
Dan. = New or Modern Danish.
dem. pr. = demonstrative pronoun.
deriv. = derivative.
dial. = dialect, dialectal.
diall. = dialects.
E. Norse = East Norse.
Eng. = English, standard speech.
Far. = Faroese.
Fr. = French.
Gael. = Gaelic.
Germ. = German.
Gmc. = Germanic.
Goth. = Gothic.
id. = the same.
inf. = infinitive.
Ir. = Irish.
L. G. = Low German.
M. Dan. = Middle Danish.
M. Du. = Middle Dutch.
M. E. = Middle English.
M. H. G. = Middle High German.
M. L. G. = Middle Low German.
M. Sco. = Middle Scotch.
M. Sw. = Middle Swedish.
Norse = New or Modern Norse.
N. Sco. = Modern Scotch dialects.
O. Dan. = Old Danish.
O. E. = Old English.
O. F. = Old Frisian.
O. Fr. = Old French.
O. Ic. = Old Icelandic.
O. N. = Old Norse.
O. Nh. = Old Northern.
O. Nhb. = Old Northumbrian.
O. S. = Old Saxon.
O. Sw. = Old Swedish.
p. = page; pp. = pages.
p. p. = past participle.
pr. p. = present participle.
pret. = preterite.
pron. = pronounced.
prep. = preposition.
pl. = plural.
q.v. = quod vide.
Scand. = Scandinavian.
Sco. = Scotch.
S. S. = Southern Scotland.
sb. = substantive.
Sw. = Swedish.
vb. = verb.
W. Norse = West Norse.
W. Scand. = West Scandinavian.
W. S. = West Saxon.
> = developed into.
< = derived from.
E.D.S. = English Dialect Society.
E.E.T.S. = Early English Text Society.
S.T.S. = Scottish Text Society.
There has been considerable confusion in the use of the terms Norse and Danish. Either has been used to include the other, or, again, in a still wider sense, as synonymous with Scandinavian; as, for instance, when we speak of the Danish kingdoms in Dublin, or Norse elements in Anglo-Saxon. Danish is the language of Denmark, Norse the language of Norway. When I use the term Old Danish I mean that dialect of Old Scandinavian, or Old Northern, that developed on Danish soil. By Old Norse I mean the old language of Norway. The one is East Scandinavian, the other West Scandinavian. The term Scandinavian, being rather political than linguistic, is not a good one, but it has the advantage of being clear, and I have used it where the better one, Northern, might lead to confusion with Northern Scotch.
A List of Scandinavian Loanwords taken chiefly from "The Bruce," "The Wallace," Wyntoun's Chronicle, Dunbar, Douglas, Lyndsay, Alexander Scott, Montgomery, Ramsay and Burns.
Worsaae's list of 1400 place-names in England gives us an idea of the extent, as well as the distribution of Scandinavian settlements in the 9th and 10th centuries. How long Scandinavian was spoken in England we do not know, but it is probable that it began to merge into English at an early date. The result was a language largely mixed with Norse and Danish elements. These are especially prominent in the M. E. works "Ormulum," "Cursor Mundi," and "Havelok." We have historical records of the Danes in Central and Eastern England. We have no such records of Scandinavian settlements in Northwestern England, but that they took place on an extensive scale 300 place-names in Cumberland and Westmoreland prove. In Southern Scotland, there are only about 100 Scandinavian place-names, which would indicate that such settlements here were on a far smaller scale than in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, or Cumberland—which inference, however, the large number of Scandinavian elements in Early Scotch seems to disprove. I have attempted to ascertain how extensive these elements are in the literature of Scotland. It is possible that the settlements were more numerous than place-names indicate, that they took place at a later date, for instance, than those in Central England. Brate showed that the general character of Scandinavian loanwords in the Ormulum is East Scandinavian. Wall concludes that it is not possible to determine the exact source of the loanwords in modern English dialects because "the dialect spoken by the Norsemen and the Danes at the time of settlement had not become sufficiently differentiated to leave any distinctive trace in the loanwords borrowed from them, or (that) neither race preponderated in any district so far as to leave any distinctive mark upon the dialect of the English peasantry." It is true that the general character of 2the language of the two races was at the time very much the same, but some very definite dialectal differentiations had already taken place, and I believe the dialectal provenience of a very large number of the loanwords can be determined. Furthermore, the distribution of certain place-names indicates that certain parts were settled more especially by Danes, others by Norsemen. The larger number of loanwords in Wall's "List A" seem to me to be Danish. My own list of loanwords bears a distinctively Norse stamp, as I shall show in Part III. of this work. This we should also expect, judging from the general character of Scandinavian place-names in Southern Scotland.
Cumberland and Westmoreland, together covering an area equal to about two-thirds that of Yorkshire, have 300 Scandinavian place-names. Yorkshire has 407 according to Worsaae's table. The character of these names in Cumberland and Westmoreland is different from that of those in the rest of England. It seems that these counties were settled predominantly by Norsemen and also perhaps at a later date than that which we accept for the settlements in York and Lincolnshire. We know that as early as 795 Norse vikings began their visits to Ireland; that they settled and occupied the Western Isles about that time; that in 825 the Faroes were first colonized by Norsemen, partly from the Isles. After 870 Iceland was settled by Norsemen from Norway, but in part also from the Western Isles and Ireland. The 'Austmen' in Ireland, especially Dublin, seem frequently to have visited the opposite shore. It seems probable that Northwestern England was settled chiefly by Norsemen from Ireland, Man, and the Isles on the west. It is not likely that any settlements took place before 900. It seems more probable that they belong rather to the second quarter of the 10th Century or even later, when the Irish began successfully to assert themselves against the Norse kings in Dublin and Waterford. Perhaps some may have taken place even as late as the end of the 10th Century.
In Southern Scotland, Dumfriesshire, Eastern Kircudbright and Western Roxburgh seem to have formed the center of Scandinavian 3settlements; so, at any rate, the larger number of place-names would indicate. The dialect spoken here is in many respects very similar to that of Northwestern England, D. 31 in Ellis, and the general character of the place-names is the same. These are, however, far fewer than in Northwestern England. Worsaae gives a list of about 30. This list is not exhaustive. From additional sources, rather incomplete, I have been able to add about 80 more Scandinavian place-names that occur in Southern Scotland, most of them of the same general character as those in Northwestern England. Among them: Applegarth, Cogarth, Auldgirth, Hartsgarth, Dalsgairth, Tundergarth, Stonegarthside, Helbeck, Thornythwaite, Twathwaite, Robiethwaite, Murraythwaite, Lockerby, Alby, Denbie, Middlebie, Dunnabie, Wysebie, Perceby, Newby, Milby, Warmanbie, Sorbie, Canoby, Begbie, Sterby, Crosby, Bushby, Magby, Pockby, Humbie, Begbie, Dinlaybyre, Maybole, Carnbo, Gateside, Glenholm, Broomholm, Twynholm, Yetholm, Smailholm, Langholm, Cogar, Prestwick, Fenwick, Howgate, Bowland, Arbigland, Berwick, Southwick, Corstorphine, Rowantree, Eggerness, Southerness, Boness, etc. There are in all about 110 such place-names, with a number of others that may be either English or Scandinavian. The number of Scandinavian elements in Southern Scotch is, however, very great and indicates larger settlements than can be inferred from place-names alone. In the case of early settlements these will generally represent fairly well the extent of settlement. But where they have taken place comparatively late, or where they have been of a more peaceful nature, the number of new names of places that result from them may not at all indicate their extent. The Scandinavians that settled in Southern Scotland probably at no time exceeded in number the native population. The place-names would then for the most part remain unchanged. The loanwords found in Southern Scotch and the names of places resemble those of Northwestern England. The same Northern race that located in Cumberland and Westmoreland also located in Scotland. It is probable, as Worsaae believed, that it is a second migration, chiefly from Cumberland. Dumfriesshire, at any rate, may have been settled in this way. The settlers of Kircudbright and Wigtown were probably largely from the Isles on the west. Other independent settlements were made in Lothian and the region about the Forth. That these are all later than those 4of Cumberland and Westmoreland is probable. According to what has been said above, the settlements in Dumfries, which seem to have been the earliest, could not have taken place before about the second quarter of the 10th Century, and probably were made later. The other settlements in Southern Scotland may extend even into the 11th Century. The name Dingwall (O. N. Ðingvöllr) in Dumfries, the place where the laws were announced annually, indicates a rather extensive settlement in Dumfries, and the dialect of Dumfries is also characterized by a larger number of Scandinavian elements than the rest of the Southern counties.
That the Danes were more numerous than the Norsemen in Central and Eastern England from Northumberland down to the Thames there can be no doubt. The distinctive Norse names fell, tarn and force do not occur at all, while thorpe and toft, which are as distinctively Danish, are confined almost exclusively to this section. In Northumberland, Durham, Cumberland, Westmoreland and Lancashire thorpe is comparatively rare, while toft is not found at all. On the other hand, fell, dale, force, haugh, and tarn (O. N. fjall, dalr, foss and fors, haugr, tjörn) occur in large numbers in Northwestern England. Beck may be either Danish or Norse, occurs, however, chiefly in the North. Thwaite Worsaae regarded as Danish "because it occurs generally along with the Danish by." We find, however, that this is not exactly the case. In Lincolnshire there are 212 by's, in Leicestershire 66, in Northampton 26; thwaite does not occur at all. In Yorkshire there are 167 names in by and only 8 in thwaite, and 6 of these are in West Riding. It is only in Cumberland and Westmoreland that the proportions are nearly the same, but on by see below § 5. Tveit is far more common in Norway than tved in Denmark. The form of the word in place-names in England is, furthermore, more Norse than Danish. In the earliest Scandinavian settlements in England, those of Lincolnshire, for instance, thwaite might be Danish if it occurred, for monophthongation of æi to e did not take place in Danish before about the end of the 9th Century; by about 900 this was complete (see § 6). The Scandinavian settlements in Northwestern England, however, did not take place so early, con5sequently if these names were Danish and not Norse we should expect to find thwet, or thweet (tweet), in place of thwaite. It is then to be regarded as Norse and not Danish. Thwaite occurs almost exclusively in Northwestern England—43 times in Cumberland as against 3 in the rest of England south of Yorkshire. Garth (O. N. garðr, O. Dan. gardh, later gaard), occurs very often in Cumberland. With, ness, holm, land, and how, do not occur very often. How reminds one of the Jutish höw in Modern Danish dialect. The rest of these may be either Danish or Norse. In Yorkshire we find a mixed condition of affairs. East Riding, as we should expect, has predominantly Danish names. Thorpe, which occurs 63 times in Lincolnshire, is found 48 times in East Riding. Fell, tarn and haugh do not occur. Force is found twice, and thwaite once. Dale, however, occurs 12 times. West Riding was probably settled by Danes from the East and by Norsemen from the West. Thorpe occurs 29 times, with 8, toft 2, beck 4, fell 15, thwaite 6, dale 12, and tarn 2. In North Riding thorpe occurs 18 times. Force, fell, and tarn together 12. The large number of names in dale in North Riding is rather striking (40 in all), as compared with 52 for Westmoreland and Cumberland. While dale is predominantly Norse, it may perfectly well be Danish, and it is not rare in Denmark. Furthermore, the greater number of dales in Norway as compared with Denmark is largely accounted for by the nature of the country. No conclusions can be drawn from names in force in Yorkshire, Cumberland and Westmoreland, as it is of too infrequent occurrence. Fell occurs 22 times in York, as against 57 in Cumberland and Westmoreland (42 in Westmoreland alone), but in York occurs predominantly in West Riding, where everything points to a mixed settlement. The distribution of tarn is interesting. Tarn is as distinctively Norse as thorpe is Danish. It occurs 24 times in Cumberland and Westmoreland, 3 in North Riding, and is not found at all south of Westmoreland and York.
By has been regarded as a sign of Danish settlement for the following reasons: (1) O. N. bör would have given bo. The O. Dan. form býr becomes by. (2) By is peculiar to Denmark, rare in Norway. (3) Bö or bo is the form found in Insular Scotland, in the Faroes and other Norse settlements. First, the form bỳr is not ex6clusively O. Dan. It occurs several times in Old Norse sagas in the form býr and bý—in "Flateyarbók," III., 290, in "Fagrskinna" 41, several times in the "Heimskringla," as well as elsewhere. Again, J. Vibe (see Nordisk Tidskrift, 1884, 535, and Norsk Historisk Tidskrift, 2 Række, 5 Bind), has shown that by is not peculiar to Denmark and rare in Norway. It occurs 600-700 times in Denmark and Skåne, and 450 times in Norway. Finally, by is often found in Norse settlements in Scotland and elsewhere—in Iceland, Shetland, Orkney, Man, and in the Western Isles. In fact, by seems to be the more common form outside of Iceland. All we can say then is that by is more Danish than Norse, but may also be Norse. Where names in by are numerous it indicates that the settlements are rather Danish, but they may also be Norse. We have, then, the following results: Predominantly Danish settlements: Essex, Bedford, Buckingham, Suffolk, Norfolk, Northampton, Leicester, Rutland, Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, East Riding. Mixed Norse and Danish settlements: North Riding, West Riding, Durham, part of Cheshire, and Southern Lancashire. Norse settlements: Cumberland, Westmoreland, North Lancashire, part of Cheshire, and parts of Northumberland. The number of Scandinavian place-names in Northumberland is not large, only 22 in Worsaae's list. North of the Cheviot Hills the names are again predominantly Norse.
On the characteristics of primitive Northern and the changes that had taken place in the language before the Viking period, see Noreen, P. G.2 I, 521-526. On pp. 523-526 are summarized the characteristics of General Northern. Until 800 the Northern tongue was unitary throughout the Scandinavian North. In the Viking age dialectal differentiations began to appear, especially in O. Dan. These are as follows (from Noreen):
Not until the year 1,000, or the beginning of the 11th Century, do dialectal differentiations seem to be fully developed. O. N., which in general preserves best the characteristics of the old Northern speech, undergoes at this time a few changes that differentiate Dan. and Norse still more. O. Sw. remains throughout closer to O. Dan. The two together are therefore called East Scandinavian. Old Icelandic, that is, Norse on Icelandic soil, develops its own forms, remaining, however, in the main very similar to O. N. These two are then called West Scandinavian. The following are some of the chief differences between West and East Scandinavian at the time (from Noreen, P. G.2 I, 527):
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1. I—(R) and U—Umlaut in W. S. |
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W. S. hældr 3 sg. pres. of halda, "to hold." W. S. i gær, "yesterday," W. S. lǫnd, pl. "land," |
E. S. halder. E. S. i gar. E. S. land. |
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2. Development of i, e, y into a consonantal
i in diphthongs in W. S., |
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W. S. siá, "to see," W. S. fiánde, "enemy," W. S. biár, "of a village," |
E. S. sēa. E. S. fiande. E. S. býar. |
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3. Assimilation of mp, nk, nt, respectively,
to pp, kk, tt in W. S., |
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W. S. kroppen, "crippled," W. S. ækkia, "widow," W. S. batt, "bound," pret. of binda, |
E. S. krumpin. E. S. ankia. E. S. binda. |
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4. The Medio-passive: |
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W. S. sk, e.g., kallask, |
E. S. s, kallas. |
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5. Pronominal forms: |
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W. S. ek, vér (mér), ér (þer), sem, |
E. S. iak, vīr, īr, sum. |
Assimilation of mp to pp and nk to kk appears also quite early in Danish and Swedish, e.g., kap (kapp) and drocken (see Kalkar), kapp and drokken (Sw.). U—Umlaut seems to be more limited in O. N. than in O. Ic. O. Ic. hl, hn, hr initially appear early as simple l, n, r in O. N. (see Noreen 528), e.g., O. Ic. hlaupa, O. N. loupa; O. Ic. hniga, O. N. niga; O. Ic. hringr, O. N. ringr; O. Ic. fn appears in O. N. as bn or mn, e.g., O. Ic. nafn, O. N. namn (N. Norse navn, nabn, namn). Initial hv, which was a heavy guttural spirant, became kv in Western Norway, kv and khv in Iceland (though written hv still), e.g., O. N., O. Ic. hvelva, Norse kvelva. O. N. ø became æ in Iceland, døma > dæma. O. N. æi became ei in Iceland, e.g., O. N. stæin > O. Ic. stein, O. N. bæin > O. Ic. bein (stin and bin in O. Dan.).
The following are some of the chief differences between O. Nhb. and W. S:
The above characteristics of O. Nhb. will not only explain a great many later Scotch forms, but also show that a number of words which have been considered loanwords are genuine English. Sco. daw, "day," need not necessarily be traced to O. N. dagr. The W. S. dæg gave Eng. day. Dæg is also the Northern form. Daw may of course be due to a in the oblique cases, but according to 2 dag may have appeared in the nominative case early in the North. This would develop to daw. Sco. daw, verb, "to dawn," is easily explained. W. S. dagian > dawn regularly, Nhb. dagia (see 17 above) > daw. The O. N. daga, "to dawn," is then out of the question. Sco. mauch, "a kinsman"; the O. E. form was mæg, which would have given may. In the North the g was probably not palatal. Furthermore a Northern form mag would regularly develop to maw, might also be mauch (cp. law and lawch, adj., "low," O. N. lagr). O. N. magr, "kinsman," may, however, be the source of mauch. Sco. hals is not from O. N. hals, but from O. Nhb. hals which corresponded to W. S. heals; Sco. hawse, "to clasp," (Ramsay, II, 257); comes from O. Nhb. halsiga, W. S. healsian. (Sco. hailse, "to greet," is a different word, see loanword list, part II.). Forms that appear later in standard English frequently are found earliest in the North (cp. § 10). No. 13 explains some differences 10in the later pronunciation of Sco. and Eng. No. 12 is a characteristic that is much more common in Middle and Early New Scotch. Many words in this way became identical in form with their Norse cognates, cp. broder, fad(d)er, etc. This will be discussed later. No. 14, Metathesis of r, was carried out extensively in W. S. (see Sievers, 179), e.g., beornan "burn"; iernan, "run"; burn, "a stream"; hors, "horse"; forsk, "frog"; þerscan, "to thrash"; berstan, "to burst"; fierst, "a space of time," (cp. Norse frist, Germ. Frist). This progressive metathesis of r is very common in the South. In the North, on the contrary, metathesis of r has taken place before ht in frohtian, fryhtu, etc. (Sievers, 179, 2). In addition to these a large number of words appear in Old and Middle Sco. differing from literary English with regard to metathesis, sometimes showing metathesis where Eng. does not. A list of words will illustrate this difference: thyrldom, "thraldom"; thirl, "to enthrall"; fryst, "first"; brest, "to burst"; thretty, "thirty"; thrid, "third"; thirl, "to pierce thirl"; gyrs, "grass"; krul, "curl"; drit, "dirt"; warsill, "to wrestle"; scart, "to scratch"; cruddled, "curdled"; birde, O. E. brid, "offspring." The result is that many of these words are more like the corresponding O. N. words than the Anglo-Saxon (cp. O. N. fristr, brenna, Norse tretti, tredie, etc.), hence they have in many cases been considered loanwords. Sco. braist and landbrest, "breakers," (cp. O. N. bresta, landbrest), are not from the Norse but from the corresponding O. Nhb. words. Cors which occurs in Gau may be a similar case and like Eng. cross derived from O. Fr. crois, but Gau otherwise shows considerable Danish influence and Gau's form may be due to that. Eng. curl and dirt (from O. Du. krul and O. N. drit) have undergone metathesis. The Sco. words have not.
Just to what extent g, c, sc were palatalized in O. Nhb. is not definitely known. Until this has been ascertained the origin of a number of dialect words in the North will remain uncertain. The palatal character of g, c, sc in O. E. was frequently represented by inserting a palatal vowel, generally e, before the following guttural vowel. Kluge shows (in Litteraturblatt für germ, und rom. Philo11logie, 1887, 113-114) that the Middle English pronunciation of crinǧen, sinǧen, proves early palatalization, which was, however, not indicated in the writing of the O. E. words cringan, singan. And in the same way palatalization existed in a great many words where it was not graphically represented. Initial sc was always palatalized (Kluge, 114 above). In the MSS. k seems to represent a guttural, c a palatal sound of older c (Sievers, 207, 2). Palatalization of c is quite general. K became palatalized to c in primitive Eng. initially before front vowels, also before Gmc. e and eu (Kluge, P. G.2 I, 991). Kluge accepts gutturalizing of a palatal c before a consonant where this position is the result of syncopation of a palatal vowel. In the South palatal c became a fricative ch. According to Kluge it never developed to ch in Northern England and Scotland, but either remained c or recurred to a guttural k. The same is true with regard to g. The exact extent of such palatalization is very difficult to determine. It is possible that the sound always remained a guttural in the North. We have seen that c or g did not cause diphthongation of the following vowel in the North as often as in the South. In view of the fact that palatalization was not always indicated, this may not prove anything, but may, however, indicate less palatalization than in the South. The fact that e or i was sometimes inserted before a following dark vowel, cp. ahefgia, "gravare," gefragia, "interrogare," proves that palatalization in these words, at least, existed.
Wall argues that non-palatalization cannot be regarded as a sign of Scand. influence and cites a number of words in support of this conclusion (see Wall, § 30). With regard to dick, "ditch," and sag, "sedge," Wall is probably right. Those in sk are, however, not so easily disposed of. The presence of certain words with sk in the South or those cited in sh in the North does not prove the case. While the presence of a word in South Eng. diall. is in favor of its genuine Eng. origin, it does not prove it, for certain words, undoubtedly Scand., are found in the Southern dialects. Shag, "rough hair," Skeat regards as Norse rather than Eng. Scaggy, "shaggy," with initial sk, I would regard as Norse from O. N. skegg, not from O. E. sceagga. Shriek Skeat regards as Scand. Bradley derives it 12from O. L. G. scricon which is found once in the Heliand. Eng. dial. skrike. Wall on the other hand derives it from O. E. scricon, since scric is found. Scric occurs in O. E. as the name of the shriekbird. The vb. is not found. Whether we regard "shriek" native or not, scrike is to be derived from O. N. skrika. Skeer is from O. N. skera; sheer from O. E. sceran. In form if not in meaning, we have an exact parallel in the M. E. skir, "bright," from O. N. skir, and schir from O. E. scir. In a few cases words that seem Scand. appear with sh, not sk. The etymology of such words, however, becomes rather doubtful. This is especially the case where in the Norse word a guttural vowel followed the sk. Where, however, the Norse or Dan. word had a palatal vowel after the sk the change to sh is not at all impossible, and here arises the question of palatalization in O. N. O. N. skiól, pron. sk-iól, with sk, = Norse skjūl (pron. shūl). Ski thus becomes sh in O. N. skilinn, Norse shil, O. N. skilja, Norse shilja (or skille), O. N. skipta, Norse shifta. West Norse also shows change of k to ch before i where the k has been kept in East Scand., e.g., O. Ic. ekki = W. Norse (dial.) ikkje or intje, pron. ittje, intje, Dan. ikke (igge). I between sk and a dark vowel early became j in Norse, which then gave the preceding sk something of a palatal nature. The development of O. N. skiól into shiel in Scotland and England may be explained in this way, as skiól > shul in Norway. This is, however, to be understood in this way, that if an i or e followed the sk, this was in condition to become palatalized, not that it was at all palatal at the time of borrowing. The sound was then distinctly guttural, and the guttural character of sk has in nearly every case been kept in Scand. loanwords in English, for palatalization of O. E. sc was completed before the period of borrowing. This palatalization of sk was general in Scotland as well as in England, and such words in sk must be regarded as Scand. loanwords.
As initial sk, corresponding to O. N. sk, O. E. sc, is due to Scand. influence, so, in general, medial and final sk may be also so regarded: cp. here Sco. harsk, "harsh," bask (adj.), mensk, forjeskit, etc. The guttural character of g and k in Sco. is not to be regarded as due to Scand. influence. Thus mirk, reek, steek, streek, breek, dik, rike, sark, kirn, lig, brig, rig, etc., are to be derived from the cor13responding O. Nhb. words, not from O. N. There is something of uncertainty in these words, however, as they all could come from the O. N. O. N. hryggr, for instance, would become rig in Sco., just as would O. Nhb. rycg (rygg). O. N. bryggia would become brig, just as well as O. Nhb. brycg (brygg). The i after g in bryggia does not hinder this, since, as we know, the O. N. word was pronounced brygg-ia, not bryddja, as a later form would be.
After Chaucer, Northumbrian English became a mere popular dialect no longer represented in literature. But the form of Northumbrian spoken north of the Tweed, Lowland Scotch, has during the next three hundred years quite a different history. From the Scottish war of Independence to the Union of the Crowns, Scotland had its own literary language. It is customary to speak of three periods of Scottish language and literature as Old, Middle and New: Old Scotch extending down to about 1450; Middle Scotch to the Union of the Crowns; and New Scotch covering the period after the Union. This is, of course, simply a Northern and later form of the Northumbrian we have discussed above.
There are no monuments in O. Sco. dating back to the 13th or first half of the 14th Century. The first of any importance that we have is "The Bruce" of 1375. By this time the language of Scotland had already undergone many changes that made its general character quite different from literary or Midland English. None of these changes tended so much to differentiate the two as the very different development of O. E. long and short a. In the south O. E. a > ē (name > nę̄m > nēm); but O. E. ā > ǭ, later ō (stān > stǭn > stōne, hām > hǭm > hōme). The change of ā to ǭ (probably about 1200) took place before that of ă to ā, else they would have coincided and both developed to ō or ē. The last is precisely what took place in Scotland. O. Nhb. ă > ā and early coincided with original ā, and along with it developed to later ē, as only short a did in the south. The two appear together in rhyme in Barbour. Their graphic representation is a, ai, ay. The sound in Barbour is probably ǣ or ę̄. In "Wallace" Fr. entré is also 14written entray, entra. Fr. a and ei and Eng. diphthong ai (< æg) rhyme regularly with Sco. a, ay, ai, from O. E. ā. On O. E. and O. N. ā- and M. Sco. ē-sounds in general see Curtis, §§ 1-165.
The following (see Curtis §§ 144-145) illustrates the development of O. E. ă, and ā, in England and Scotland:
| 1. Central Scotland. |
{ { |
O. E. ă O. E. ā |
} } |
> an ē-vowel. |
| 2. S. Scotland and Ellis's D. 31.2. in England. |
{ { |
O. E. ă O. E. ā |
} } |
> ē > an i-fracture in the mdn. diall. |
| 3. The rest of Northern England and Midland. |
{ { { { |
O. E. ă |
{ { { { |
> an ē-vowel > ē, later ī-fracture in D 25, 26, 28, 29. |
|
{ { |
O. E. ā > ō or ū, with fracture. | |||
| 4. Southern England |
{ { |
O. E. ă > an e-fracture or i-fracture. O. E. ā > ā > ū or ō. |
||
The intermediate stage of this development, however, is explained in two ways. According to Curtis it was (in 2) ā > ę̄ > ē > ī > iə. Luik (§ 244) shows that
das Vorrücken zum Vocalextrem ist an die Abstumpfung gebunden; wir finden es nur dort, wo auch Abstumpfung zu constatieren ist, wäbrend diese selbst ein weiteres Gebiet hat. Schon daraus folgt, dass die Abstumpfung das Primäre ist, dass also ihre Basis e war, nicht i. Dies wird bestätigt durch eine einfache Erwägung. Hätte die Abstumpfung die Lautstufe i ergriffen, so hätte sie auch das e treffen müssen, das ja schon seit Beginn der neuenglischen Zeit in allen Dialekten durch i vertreten ist. Endlich bieten die frühesten Zeugnisse nur e, nicht i, auch für solche Striche, die heute i haben.
According to this, 15then, the development is more probably ā̆ > ę̄ > ēə > iə, or, as Luik thinks, ā̆ > æ > æə, or ę̄ə > ēə > iə
Another Northern peculiarity relates to O. E. ō. While in the south O. E. ō developed to an ū-vowel or an ū-fracture, in Scotland it became ee (ui, ee, i). The process involved here does not yet seem to be fully understood. The modern dialect of Aberdeen is most pronounced in this respect, older i also frequently becoming u, o. The following examples taken from "Johnnie Gibb" (Aberdeen. 1871) will illustrate:
Many words have developed a y where originally there was none. This phenomenon is, however, closely connected with e-i-fracture from original ā̆. Y we find appears often before a (from original ā̆). It is, then, simply the development of the e-i-fracture into a consonant + a, and may be represented thus: O. E. āc ("oak") > ę̄c > ēc > ēəc > iəc > yak. (See also Murray D.S.C.S., 105). Cp. yance and yence, "once"; yell, "ale"; yak, "ache." This also appears in connection with fracture other than that from O. E. ā: cp. yirth, yird, for "earth."
This appears in a number of words: e.g., ledder, "leather"; fader (in Gau),fadder, "father"; moder, mudder, "mother"; broder, brudder, "brother"; lidder (A.S. liðre); de (Gau), "the" (article); widdie (O. E. wiðig), "withy"; dead, "death"; ferde, "fourth"; etc. In some works this tendency is quite general. Norse loanwords as a rule keep the spirant, but in the following loanwords ð has become d: cleed, cleeding, "clothe, clothing," from O. N. klæða; red, "to clear up," O. N. ryðja; bodin, O. N. boðinn (? See E.D.D.); bud, "bribe," O. N. boð; heid, "brightness," O. N. hæið; eident, "busy," O. N. iðinn (ythand is, however, the more common Sco. form); bledder, "to prate," O. N. blaðra (more commonly blether in Sco.); byrd, "ought," O. N. burði; stiddy, O. N. steði. I do not think ryde, "severe," can be derived from O. N. reiðr; and frody, "wise," is rather O. E. frod than O. N. fróðr. Waith, O. N. væiðr, has kept the spirant, but faid, a "company of hunters," has changed it to d. Faid probably comes in from Gaelic. I have called attention to this change of ð to d in Sco., since many words affected by it have become almost identical in form with their Scand. cognates and have consequently been considered loan-words. See § 23.
Certain Eng. dialect words in ē corresponding to O. E. ā have been considered Scand. loanwords. We have, however, seen that in the north O. E. ā > ē just as did O. N. æi (ei). How many of these words are genuine English and how many are loanwords be17comes, then, rather uncertain. Wall argues that the Norse words were always in M. E. spelled with a diphthong, while the genuine English words were spelled with an a—thus bain, baisk from O. N. bæinn, bæiskr, but hame, stane, hale from O. E. hām, stān, hāl. If this were always the case we should have here a safe test. It is, however, a fact that in Scottish texts at least, no such consistency exists with regards to these words. The following variant spellings will show this: hame, haim, haym; stain, stane, stayne; hal, hale, hail, hayle; lak, lake, laik, layk; blake, blaik, blayk, etc., etc. There is, however, another way in which to determine which of such words are loanwords and which are not. In Southern Scotland in D. 33, and in Northwestern England (D. 31), O. N. æi and O. E. ā did not coincide, but have been kept distinct down to the present time (see Ellis's word-lists and Luik, 220, 221). In these two dialects O. E. ā developed to an i-fracture (see § 16.2), while O. N. æi never went beyond the e-stage, and remains an e-vowel in the modern dialects. Here, then, we have a perfectly safe test for a large number of words. Those that have in D. 31 and D. 33 an i-vowel or an i-fracture are genuine English, those that have an e-vowel are Scandinavian loanwords. Ellis's list offers too few examples of words of this class. We find hi'm, bi'n, hi'l, sti'n, and in Murray's D.S.C.S. heame, and heale (beside geate (O. N. gata), beath, meake, tweae, neame, etc.). This then proves that Sco. haim, bain, hail, and stain are from O. E. hām, bān, hāl, stān and not from O. N. hæim, bæinn, hæil, stæinn. Mair, in spite of its e-vowel, is not from O. N. mæir, for a following r prevented the development to i, as a rule, although in Cumberland meear is found beside mair. The word "steak" (O. N. stæik), which occurs in Ellis's list, has had an irregular development and cannot be considered here (see further Luik, 323). In the following works are found a number of words of this class:
Westmoreland and Cumberland Dialects, by J.R. Smith. London. 1839.18
A Glossary of Words and Phrases of Cumberland, by William Dickinson. London. 1859.
Folk Speech of Cumberland, by Alexander Craig Gibson. London. 1873.
A Glossary of Words used in Swaledale, Yorkshire, by John Harand. E.D.S. 1873.
Whitby Glossary, by F.K. Robinson. E.D.S. 1876.
These all aim at giving the phonetic value of the sounds. O. E., O. N. ā is represented by ea or eea, indicating i-fracture. For instance: heam, steean, neam, geat, beeath, leath (O. N. laði), heeal, brea (O. N. brā), breead (O. E. brād, not O. N. bræi), greeay, blea, etc. Those that have a, ai, or ay, that is an e-vowel, and must consequently be derived from the corresponding O. N. words, are the following:
In addition to these, blain, "to become white," is a Scand. loan-word, but rather from Dan. blegne than Norse blæikna, cp. blake above. Blained, adj. "half dry," said of linen hung out to dry, is, of course, simply the pp. of blain, cp. Dan. blegned. Skaif, "distant, wild, scattered abroad, or apt to be dispersed" (is the definition given), corresponds exactly to O. N. skæif in form, but not in meaning. Skæif meant "crooked." Sco. daive, "to stun, stupefy," is here regularly spelled deeave (deave in Swaledale). It must, then, be derived from O. E. deafian, not O. N. 19döyfa, O. Ic. deyfa. Swaledale slaiching, "sneaking," is the same as O. N. slæikja, "to lick"; a secondary meaning of O. N. slæikja is "to sneak"; keeal, "kail," could come from O. N. kál or Gael. cál. It is probably from the latter. The word slaister, "to dawdle, to waste one's time," is not clear. The sb. slaisterer, "a slink, an untidy person," is also found. The ai indicates an original diphthong. It is probably the same as Norse slöysa, sb. "an untidy person," as vb. "to be untidy, to be careless." Ster (slais + ster) would, then, be an Eng. suffix, or it may be the same as that in Sco. camstary, cp. Germ. halsstarrig. The Norse word slöysa is probably not the direct source of the Eng. dialect word. Slaister, however, for slöysa, seems to be a recent word in Norse. Skane, "to cut the shell fish out of the shell" (Wall, list B), is to be derived from O. N. skæina, rather than from O. E. scænan. Slade, "breadth of greensward in plowed land," cannot be from O. N. slettr, "plain," sletta, "a plain." Neither form nor meaning quite correspond. The Sw. slägd corresponds perfectly in form but not in meaning. It is, however, probably from O. E. slæd. This word is taken from Wall's list, not from the works named above.
In Gaelic and Irish, in the Western Isles and the Highlands, considerable Norse elements are found as the result of Norse occupancy that continued in the Isles, at least, for several hundred years. A number of words that have come into Gaelic and Irish from Norse are also found in Lowland Scotch. In some cases it seems that the word has not come into Lowland Scotch direct from Norse, but by way of Gaelic or Irish. Craigie has given a list of about 200 words in Gaelic that seem to come from Norse. Out of these I will take a few that have corresponding words in Scotch:
| Gaelic or Irish. | Lowland Scotch. | Old Norse. |
|
gardha lobht prine stop sgeap sainseal gaort 20 cnapp, cneap maol sgeir scarbh gead scát brod masg rannsaich |
garth loft prin stoup skep hansell girt, girth knap mull sker scarth ged, gedde scait brod mask Dan. ransack, runsick |
garðr loft prjónn staup skeppa handsal giörð knappr múli sker scarfr gedda skata broddr maske rannsaka |
Garth and loft agree perfectly with the O. N. and are not doubtful. With the Gael. gardh cp. O. N. garðr and O. Sw. gardher. The Sco. garth has changed the original voiced spirant to a voiceless one. In Gael. lobht f has become v. Prin is rather doubtful. There is an O. E. prēon from which the Gael. word may have come. The Sco. word prin does not seem to come from either O. E. prēon or O. N. prjónn, but from the Gael. prine. There is a Northern dialectic prēon which may come from O. E. prēon. There is also a pren in Dan. dial. Stoup has the Norse diphthong which has been simplified in Gael. stop. Skep is a little doubtful because of meaning. The loanword sgeap in Gael. has the specialized meaning of "a beehive." This meaning the Sco. word has very frequently, the Norse to my knowledge never. It may be a case of borrowed meaning from Gael. Girth is from the Norse. Girt is probably simply change of th to t, which is also found elsewhere in Sco. Knap may be from either. Mull in Sco. may be native English. The word occurs in L. G. Sker is from O. N. Skarth is anomalous, showing change of f to th. In the Gael. scarbh, f is changed to v as in lobht. Ged is nearer the O. N. Scait could be from either, as also brod. Sco. mask is probably not at all a loanword, and may be from older mex by metathesis of s; cp. O. E. mexfat and Sco. maskfat cited by Skeat, Et. Dict. The Gael. masg is probably not a loanword from the Scand., but from O. E., or perhaps from O. Sco. An O. Nhb. mesk probably existed. Ransack agrees with the Norse word. The spelling runsick found once (Wallace VII, 120), probably does not represent the exact sound, and is, in any case, as ransack to be derived from the O. N. and not through the Gael. Faid, "a company of hunters," has already once been referred to. 21This cannot possibly come from the O. N. væiðr, for while the spirant ð sometimes becomes d, O. N. v regularly becomes w in Sco. (rarely v). We should expect the form waith, and this is the form we have in Wallace I, 326, in the sense "the spoil of the chase." There is a Gael. fiadhoig, meaning "a huntsman." The first element fiad seems to be the O. N. veiðr with regular change of ð to d (or dh, cp. gardha), and v or w to f which is considered a sign of Gael. influence in Aberdeen Sco., cp. fat for what, fen for when, etc., the development probably being wh > w > v > f. Faid in Sco. is then probably from the Gaelic.
We have spoken in §§ 10, 13, 20 and 22, of a number of words that are to be considered regular Sco. developments of O. E. words. The following words have also generally been derived from the Scand., but must be considered native, or from sources other than Norse:
I have adopted the following tests of form, meaning and distribution in determining the Scand. source of loanwords:
The following dates it may be well to remember:
Barbour's "Bruce" finished about 1375.
Wyntoun's Chronicle written about 1420.
Henry the Minstrel's "Wallace" written about 1450.
Dunbar lived from 1460 to 1520.
Douglas lived from 1475 to 1520.
Sir David Lyndsay lived from 1490 to 1555.
Alexander Scott lived from 1547 to 1584.
"The Complaynt of Scotland" was written about 1549.
Alexander Montgomery lived from 1540 to 1610.
Allan Ramsay lived from 1686 to 1758.
Robert Burns lived from 1759 to 1796.
"The Bruce," Wyntoun's "Cronykale" and the "Wallace" belong, then, to the early period of Scotch, which, for convenience, has been called Old Scotch. The last half of the 15th Century is a transition period. The language of Dunbar and Douglas is already Middle Scotch. Middle Scotch of the 16th Century is further represented by Lyndsay, Alexander Scott and Montgomery. "The Com24playnt of Scotland" is Central Scotch of the middle of the 16th Century. Ramsay represents Early New Scotch. The language of Burns is in all essentials present Scotch. From the Scottish War of Independence down to the Union of the Crowns the literary standard of Scotland was Central Scotch. After the Union there was no longer a Scotch language of literature and Central Scotch became a mere spoken dialect like the other dialects of Scotland. The writings of Ramsay and Burns represent local dialects just as the large number of Scotch dialect writers of the last and this century have written in their own peculiar local vernacular. The great majority of loanwords are taken from "The Bruce," "The Wallace," Douglas, Dunbar, Scott and Montgomery. "The Bruce" has a large number of Scand. elements; it represents, however, literary Scotch and not Aberdeen Scotch of 1375. "Johnnie Gibb," written in modern Aberdeen dialect, has not a very large Scand. element, while "Mansie Wauch" (modern Edinburgh dialect) has a far larger number. In "The Wallace" Scand. elements are quite prominent. So in the writings of Douglas, Scott and Montgomery. "The Complaynt of Scotland" has comparatively very few loanwords from Scand., while on the other hand the French element is more prominent than in the other works. Norse elements are not prominent in Lyndsay. None of the Scotch writers has as many Scand. words as Dunbar. We may say that they are nearly as prominent in Dunbar's works as in the Ormulum, Midland English of about 300 years before Dunbar's works were written.
The numbers given in the references are self-explanatory. They are generally to page and line, in some cases to book and verse, as in Bruce and Wyntoun. T.W.M. refers to Dunbar's "Twa Mariit Wemen." F. to "The Flyting with Kennedy." F. after Montgomery's name refers to "The Flyting." G.T. refers to Dunbar's "Golden Targe," and C. and S. to Montgomery's "Cherrie and the Slae." M.P. to the "Miscellaneous Poems" and S. to the "Sonnets."
Only words that are specifically Scotch in form or usage have been included. Very well known Scotch words, that occur in older Scotch as well as the modern dialects, such as blether, busk, ettle, kilt, etc., are given without references to texts where they have been found, otherwise one or more references are given in each case. For the sake of comparison and illustration Shetland and Cumberland forms 25are frequently given. Wherever a W. Scand. source is accepted fora loanword the O. N. form is given if it be different from O. Ic. Examples from Danish dialects or Swedish dialects are given as Dan. dial. or Sw. dial. Those from Norse dialects are cited as Norse simply. Those that are specifically literary Norse are cited as Dano-Norse.
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