Stowit, pt. p. cutoff, cropped.
Douglas, III, 42, 3. O. N. stúfa,
a stump, stýfa, to cut off, Dan.
stuve, Sw. stuf, a piece left after the rest has been cut
away, styva, to crop, O. Sw., Sw. dial. styva,
stuva, id. An O. E. styfician, to root up,
occurs once (Leechdoms). See B-T.
Stowp, sb. a pitcher, a beaker.
Dunbar, 161, 26. O. N. staup, a beaker, a cup, Norse
staup, id., Dan. stöb, O. E. stēap,
O. H.G. stouf.
Stray, strae, stra, sb. straw.
O. N. strá, Dan., Norse straa, Sw. strå,
Cu. strea.
Stroup, (strūp), sb. the spout
of a kettle or pump. Burns, 602; Jamieson. O. N. strjúpi,
the spurting trunk, Norse strupe and striupe, the throat,
gullet, Dan. strube, id., M. E. strūpe,
the throat.
Studie, sb. anvil. Dunbar,
141, 52. The word rhymes with smidy. See styddy.
Styddy, studdie, stuthy, sb. anvil.
Douglas, III, 926, 9; III, 180, 26; Dunbar 141, 52. See also Burns, 502.
O. N. steði, a stithy, an anvil. Norse sted. Sw.
städ. Exhibits change of ð to d which is a Sco.
characteristic, but does not often take place in Norse words.
See, too, Cu. stiddy, steady.
Sumph, sb. a blunt fellow.
Burns, 98, 1. Norse sump, a bungler, a simpleton, sumpa,
vb. to entangle, put into disorder, sump, a disordered mass. Cu.
sumph. M. L. G. sump, and Dan. sump do
not seem to be quite the same.
Swarf, vb. originally to turn,
then to overturn, fall over, fall. Burns, 211, 87, 4. O. N.
svarfa, to turn aside, to be turned upside down, Sw.
swarfve, Norse svarva, turn, swing about, Dan.
svarve or svarre. Eng. swerve does not quite
correspond. O. E. sweorfan meant "to file, polish,"
O. S. swerban, to wipe off, polish,
O. F.
swerva, to creep.
Swage, swey, vb. sway, waver,
also turn, make turn. Sat. P., 5, 8; Douglas, II, 104, 12. O. N.
svæigja, to bend, to sway, Dan. sveie, Sw. dial.
sväiga, Norse sveigja.
Syte, sb. grief, suffering.
Lyndsay, 273, 333. Montg., M.P., V, 14. O. N. sýta,
to wail, sýting, sb., sút, grief, affliction, Norse
sut, care, syta, to care. Skeat cites sut
(in list) which would exactly correspond to the O. N. sb.
Brate accepts an O. N. sb. syt.
Tait, adj. foul. Montg.,
F., 755. O. N. tað. The change of ð to t
is unusual. See Wall.
Tangle,
sb. seaweed, stalk of a seaweed. Dalr., I, 62, 1; Burns, 91, 2, 2.
O. N. þöngul, tangle, seaweed. Cp. þönglabakki,
Tangle-hill, name of a place in Iceland. In Norse tangel same as
Eng. tangle, entangle.
Tangling, pr. p., adj.
clinging, intertwining. Burns, 60, 3, tangling roots, clinging together
in tangles. See tangle.
Tarn, sb. a small lake. Jamieson.
O. N. tjörn, a small lake, Norse tjönn, tjörn,
Sw. tjärn, M. E. terne, a lake. Particularly Sco. and
N.W. Eng. Cp. Shetland shon, shoden, a pool, a little
lake. The last example exhibits W. Norse change of rn to
dn. The form tjödn occurs in Sogn, Norway.
Tath, sb. Jamieson. O. N.
tað. See Wall.
Teal, till, vb. to entice. Wallace,
VI, 151, and Jamieson. O. N. tæla, to entice, related to
Norse telja. Sco. tealer, sb. Jamieson. The form
in i is strange.
Teynd, teind, sb. tithe. C.S.,
123; Lyndsay, 152, 4690; Rolland, I, 546. O. N. tíund,
the tenth, the tithe, Norse tiende, Dan. tiende, the
regular ordinal of ti.
Tha, dem. pron. these, those.
Same form in all cases. Wallace, X, 41; Wyntoun, I, 1, 6. O. N.
þeir.
Theck, vb. to thatch. Ramsay,
II, 224. Has been taken as a loan-word from O. N. þekja,
to thatch, Norse tekka, Sw. täcka. Cp. O. E.
þeccan. Theck probably comes from O. Nhb. þecca.
Thir, dem. pron. these, those.
Bruce, I, 76; Dunbar, G.T., 127; Lyndsay, 4, 20, 1175; R.R., 108.
O. N. þeir. Cp. M. E. þir, þer, those,
Cu. thur.
Thra, adj. eager. Bruce, XVIII,
71. O. N. þrár, obstinate, persistent, Norse traa,
untiring, also wilful, Sw. dial. trå, M. E. þra,
bold, strong, thraly, adv. Wyntoun, II, 8, 55; VII, 8, 186.
See Wall. Skeat cites Eng. dial. thro.
Thra, adv. boldly. Dunbar,
T.M.W., 195. See above, thra.
Thraif, sb. two stooks or
twenty-four sheaves of grain. Dunbar, 228. O. N. þrefi,
a number of sheaves, Dan. trave, Sw. trafwe, twenty
sheaves of grain, M. E. þrāve, a bundle, a number,
Cu. threve, threeav.
Threave, sb. a crowd, a large
number. Ramsay, II, 463. The same word as thraif, q.v.
Thrist, vb. to thrust, push, also
means to clasp. Bruce, XIII, 156; R.R. 12, 9; Rolland, IV, 590. O. N.
þrýsta, to thrust, force, Norse
trysta, to press together, M. E. þrīsten,
þrȳstan. Lyndsay also uses the word in the sense of "to pierce."
Thwaite, sb. originally a small
piece of cleared land on which a house was built, a cottage with its
paddock. O. N. þvæit, O. Ic. þveit. Northwest
England thwaite, Norse tveit, tvæit, Dan.
tved. Occurs in a number of place-names in S. Scotland,
especially in Dumfriesshire. Its form is Norse not Dan. Thweet
or thwet would correspond to the Dan. word, but see also Part III, 1.
Tit, tyt, adv. soon, quickly. Bruce,
II, 4; IV, 289. O. N. títt, adv. frequently, in quick
succession, "höggva hart ok títt." The Sco. word comes from this
O. N. form, which is simply the neuter inflected form of
tiðr, adj. meaning "customary, familiar." The comparative
titter often means "rather" in Sco., like Eng. sooner.
Cp. Cu. "I'd as tite deat as nut," "I'd as lief do it as not."
Tithand, titand, sb. news, tidings.
Bruce, IV, 468; Lyndsay, 341, 720. O. N. tiðindi, news, Norse
tidende, id., Dan. tidende, Orm. tiþennde. Of
O. E. tidung > tidings Bosworth says: "the use of
the word, even if its form be not borrowed from Scand., seems to have
Scand. influence."
Titlene, sb. the hedge sparrow.
C.S., 38. O. N. titlingr, a tit, a sparrow.
Toym, tume, sb. leisure. Bruce,
V, 64, 2, XVII, 735. O. N. tóm, leisure (Skeat).
Traist, vb. to trust. Bruce,
I, 125; XVII, 273; Rolland, I, 27. Trast, adj. secure,
traist, sb. confidence. Lindsay, 229, 195.
Traisting, sb. confidence, reliance, L.L., 25. Cp.
O. N. tröysta, adj. traustr, and Eng.
trust, M. E. trusten. I do not at present
understand the relation between the forms in e, and these
in u and ou.
Trig, adj. trim, neat, handsome.
M.W., 159, 26. O. N. tryggr, true, trusty,
unconcerned, trygging, security, O. Dan. trygd,
trugd, confidence (Schlyter), Norse trygg, secure,
unconcerned, confident, tryggja, to consider secure,
tryggja sek, feel secure, Dan. tryg, fearless, confident.
Cp. Cu. trig, tight, well-fitted, "trig as an apple." The
M. E. trig means faithful, see B-S. Ramsay, II, 526,
uses the adv. trigly in the sense of "proudly."
Twist,
sb. twig, branch. Bruce, VII, 188; Montg., C. and S., Irving,
468. O. N. kvistr, a twig, O. Dan., quist, Norse,
Dan. kvist, Sw. quist, id. For the change of kv
(kw) to tw cp. Norse, Dan. kviddre, Sw.
quittra, Du. kwittern with Eng. twitter, and
kj to tj in W. Norse. A regular change.
Tyne, vb. lose, impair, destroy.
C.S., 3; Wyntoun, IX, 21, 14; R.R. 779. O. N. týna, to lose,
destroy, Norse tyna, to lose, sometimes impair, Sw. dial.
tyna, to destroy.
Tynsell, tynsale, sb. loss. Bruce,
V, 450, XIX, 449; R.R., 505. In Wyntoun, IX, 3, 25, it means "delay,
loss of time," frequently means "loss of life, slaughter." M. E.
tinsel, loss, ruin, probably a Sco. formation from tyne,
to lose, similarly in Norse tynsell, loss (not frequent), from
tyna.
Tynsale, vb. to lose, suffer loss.
Bruce, XIX, 693. See the sb.
Tytt, adj. firm, tight. Wallace,
VII, 21, 2. O. N. þittr, tight, close, Norse, tett or
titt, Dan. tæt, Sw. tät, close together, tight, Eng.
dial. theet. The long vowel in theet is unusual.
Ug, vb. to dislike, abhor.
Winyet, II, 31, 32; Scott, 71, 119. O. N. ugga, abhor,
Norse ugga, see B-S.
Ugsum, adj. fearful. Sat. P., 3,
135. See ug. Ougsum, Howlate, I, 8, means "ugly."
Underlie, adj. wonderful. Gau,
29, 24. Dan. underlig, Norse, underleg, O. N.
underlegr, wonderful, shows Scand. loss of w before
u. The O. E. word is wundorlic, cp. Scand.
ulf, Eng. wolf. The word is Dan. in Gau.
Unfleckit, adj. unstained.
Psalms, XXIV, 4. See fleckerit.
Unganand (gēn.), adj. unfit,
unprepared. Douglas, II, 48, 16. See ganand.
Unrufe, sb. restlessness,
vexation. Gol. and Gaw., 499. See rove, sb. Cp. Norse uro,
restlessness, noise, Dan. uro, id.
Unsaucht, adj. disturbed,
troubled. Gol. and Gaw., II, 12. See saucht.
Upbigare, sb. a builder.
Winyet, II, 3, 4. See big. Cp. Norse bygga up.
Uploip, vb. leap up. Montg.,
M.P., III, 33. See loup. On this change of ou to
oi cp. the same word in Norse, laupa and loipa.
Vath, waith,
sb. danger. Bruce,
V, 418; Wallace, IX, 1737. O. N. váði, harm, mishap,
disaster, Dan. vaade, danger,
adversity, Sw. våde,
an unlucky accident, M. E. wāþe, peril. Does not seem
to exist in the modern diall.
Vitterly, adv. certainly. Bruce,
IV, 771; X, 350. O. N. vitrliga, wisely, Dan.
vitterlig, well-known, undoubted, M. E. witerliche,
certainly.
Vyndland, pr. p. whirling around.
Bruce, XVII, 721. O. N. vindla, to wind up. Norse
vindel, a curl, anything twisted or wound. Cu. winnel.
Cp. Dan. vindelbugt, a spiral twist. Skeat cites provincial Eng.
windle, a wheel for winding yarn.
Wag, vb. to totter, walk unsteady.
Dunbar, 120, 98. Norse, vagga, to swing, rock, sway, O. N.
vaga, to waddle. See further Skeat.
Waggle, vb. to wag, sway from side
to side, wabble. M.W., 16, 23; 51, 5. Sw. dial. vagla,
vackla, to reel, Norse vakla, id. May be taken as a Sco.
frequentative of wag, q.v. Not to be derived from the L. G.
word. Confined to the Scand. settlements.
Wailie, adj. excellent. Burns,
179, 2, 3, and 8, 7. See wale, sb.
Wailit, adj. choice, fashionable,
excellent. Rolland, I, 64. See wail, vb.
Wale, vb. to select, choose.
Douglas, III, 3, 21; Dunbar, G.T., 186. Probably from the noun
wale, choice. The vowel does not correspond with that of the
O. N. vb. velja, which should have become well.
But the forms dwall from O. N. dvelja, and hale,
O. N. hella, appear in Sco. Wale may be a formation
analogous to hale.
Waith, sb. the spoil of the chase
or of fishing. Wallace, I, 386. O. N. væiðr, a catch in
hunting or fishing. Norse veidd, the chase, veida, to hunt.
On Sco. faid, a company of hunters. See I, § 22.
Wandreth, sb. sorrow, trouble.
Douglas, I, 88, 14. O. N. vandræði, difficulty, trouble.
Norse, vanraad, misery, poverty.
Want, vant, vb. lack, stand in need
of, suffer. Montg., S., 48, 3; Lyndsay, 152, 40704; Bruce, V, 422; Burns,
113, 2, 3. O. N. vanta, to lack. Norse vanta, lack,
never means desire. This is the regular use of the word in Sco.
Wanthreivin, adj. unthriven,
miserable. Montg., F., 327. O. N. van + þrifenn,
Norse vantreven, O. N. vb. þrifa, Norse triva,
vantriva (refl.). See Skeat under Eng. thrive and
thrift.
Wap
(wæ̆p), vb. to turn, overturn, throw, hurl. Douglas, I, 2, 20;
III, 167, 28; Gol. and Gaw., 127. O. N. vappa, to waddle.
Norse vappa, turn, wrap around. Sw. dial. vappla, wrap up.
Cu. wap, to wrap.
Ware, vb. to lay out money, spend.
Rolland, III, 450; Dunbar, 92, 13; R.R., 3553. O. N. verja,
to invest money. See Wall.
Waur, vb. to overcome. Burns,
7, 1, 7; Psalms, CXL, 2. See werr. Cp. Eng. worst as a
vb. and superlative of bad, worse.
Weik, vb. to weaken. Scott,
68, 14. Cp. Norse veikja, to weaken, make weak. O. N.
væikja, to grow weak, both from adj. væikr, weak, same as
O. E. wāc. The Sco. vb. may be formed directly from the
adj., in which case its origin becomes uncertain. Skeat says Eng.
weak, M. E. weyke (which replaced wook <
O. E. wāc), is from O. N. væikr. But the
M. Sco. form of O. E. or O. Nhb. wāc was
wāke (wēk); our word could come from this. The diphthong,
however, rather indicates that it comes from the Norse vb.
Weill-varandly, adv. in a proper
manner. R.R., 911. See farrand. Cp. O. N. fara vel,
Norse fara vel, to go well, velfaren, gone well.
Welter, vb. to roll, turn, overturn.
Bruce, XI, 25; III, 700; Douglas, II, 125, 25; T.M.W., 439;
Lyndsay, 342, 770. O. N. valtra, to be unsteady, not firm,
easily shaken. O. Sw. valltra, Sw. dial. välltra,
to roll.
Werr, were, war, var, waur, adj.
worse. C.S., 57; Lyndsay, 428, 1392; R.R., 589, etc. O. N.
verr, worse, Norse verr, verre, Dan. værre,
Sw. värr, Cu. waar. This is the modern Sco. pronunciation
of it. The O. Fr. wirra does not correspond to the Sco. forms
of the word. It is most common in Scotland and N.W. England.
Wicht, adj. strong, vigorous,
skillful. Bruce, VII, 263; Ramsay, I 253. O. N. vígr, fit
for battle, skilled in war, from víg, battle, Sw. vig,
active, M. E. wiht, valiant. B-S. queries the word, but
thinks it may come from M. L. G. wicht, heavy, thus the
same word as Eng. weight. This meaning is, however, not
satisfactory. The Sco. usage is that of the Scand. word. The t
is inflectional. Cp. O. N. eiga vígt um.
Wick, vb. to make to turn,
to strike off on the side, strike a stone
in an oblique direction, a term in
curling, to hit the corner (Wagner). O. N. víkja,
to turn, to veer, Sw. dial. vik, Sw. wika,
Norse vikja, vika, to turn (causative). Dan.
vige not quite the same word.
Wilkatt, sb. a wild cat, Dalr.,
I, 723. Ramsay II, 500. O. N. vill + Eng., Norse cat,
kat.
Will, vill, adj. adv. lost,
bewildered, astray. Dunbar, 228, 74; Douglas, II, 24, 6, "to go will."
O. N. villr, bewildered, fara villt, get lost, Norse
vill, astray, Dan. vild, Sw. vill. Cp. Cu.
wills, doubts, "Aaz i' wills whether to gang or nit."
Wilrone, sb. a wild boar. Scott,
71, 106. O. N. vill, wild, + runi, a boar,
a wild boar, Norse rone, raane, Sw. dial. råne,
Dan., with metathesis, orne.
Wilsum, adj. errant, wandering.
Douglas, II, 65, 16; "a wilsome way," "Freires of Berwick," 410.
See will, astray. Wilsum more frequently means "willful,"
is Eng.
Wissle, vissil, wyssil. Douglas,
III, 225, 8; Bruce, XII, 580; Montg., F., 578. O. N. vixla,
to cross, to put across, vixlingr, a changeling (Cl. and V.),
Norse veksla, vessla, to exchange, Dan. veksle.
Sco. and Norse both show the change of ks to ss. The Norse
form versla shows later dissimilation of ss to rs.
This is W. Norse.
Wittir, sb. a sign. Douglas,
II, 231, 16. See wittering.
Wittering, vittering, sb.
information, knowledge. Bruce, IV, 562; Douglas, II, 185, 27. O. N.
vitring, revelation, from vb. vitra, to reveal. Norse
vitring, information, M. E. witering, id.
Welter, sb. an overturning.
Winyet, I, 49, 22. See the vb. welter.
PART III.
1. The Dialectal Provenience of Loanwords.
The general character of the Scand. loanwords in Sco. is Norse, not Dan. This is shown by (a) A number of words that either do not exist in Dan. or else have in Sco. a distinctively W. Scand. sense; (b) Words with a W. Scand. form.
a. The following words have in Sco. a W. Scand. meaning or are not found in Danish:
Airt, to urge. O. N. erta.
Not a Dan. word.
Apert, boldly. O. N. apr.
Not Dan.
Aweband, a rope for tying cattle.
O. N. háband. Meaning distinctively W. Scand.
Bauch, awkward. Not E.Scand.
Bein, liberal. Meaning is W. Scand.
Brod, to incite. O. N.
brodda, id. Dan. brodde, means "to equip with points."
Bysning, monstrous. O. N.
bysna. Not E. Scand.
Carpe, to converse. Not E.Scand.
Chowk, jawbone. Rather W. Scand.
than E. Scand.
Chyngill, gravel. A Norse word.
Dapill, gray. A W. Scand. word.
Dyrdum, uproar. W. Scand.
The word is also found in Gael.
Furthermore the form is more W. Scand. than Dan. Cp. dýr
and dør.
Dowless, worthless. Duglauss
a W. Scand. word.
Duds, clothes. Not found in Dan. or Sw.
Ettle, aim at. W. Scand. meaning.
O. Dan. ætlæ meant
"ponde over."
Farrand, handsome. This meaning is
Icelandic and Norse.
Fell, mountain. W. Scand.
more than E. Scand.
Gane, be suitable. O. N.
gegna. Vb. not found in Dan.
Gyll, a ravine. O. N. gil.
Is W. Scand.
Heid, brightness. O. N.
hærð. Icel. and Norse.
Hoolie, slow. O. N. hógligr.
Not in Dan. or Sw.
Kendill, to kindle. Ormulum
kinndlenn is from O. Ic.
kendill (Brate).
Lirk, to crease. I have not
found the word in E.Scand.
Melder, flour. O. N. meldr.
Is W. Scand.,
particularly Norse.
Pocknet, a fishnet. O. N.
pōki-net. Not Dan.
Ramstam, indiscreet, boisterous.
Both elements are W. Scand.
Scarth, cormorant. W. Scand.
Tarn, a lake. Distinctively Norse.
Tyne, to lose. O. N. týna.
Distinctively Norse.
Waith, booty. O. N. væiðr.
Icel. and Søndmøre, Norway.
Ware, to spend. N. verja.
W. Scand.
Wick, to cause to turn. O. N.
vikja. Not Danish.
b. The following words are W. Scand. in form:
Bolax, hatchet. O. N. bolöx.
The O. Dan. word has the vowel u, bulöx.
Bown, O. N. búinn, cp.
grouf < grúfu; bowk < búkr; stroup
< strjúpr; dowless < duglauss, etc.
The O. Dan. word was boin.
The form in Orm. is būn, a Norse loanword.
Busk, to prepare, has W. Scand.
reflexive ending sk.
Buth, O. N. búð. The
O. Dan., O. Sw. vowel was o, boð and
bodh, so in modern Dan. diall. In Norse diall. it is u.
Cappit shows W. Scand.
assimilation of mp < pp.
Clubbit shows W. Scand.
assimilation of mb < bb.
Drucken exhibits W. Scand.
assimilation of nk > kk.
Cp. O. Dan. dronkne, drone, but N.Dan. drukken.
Harn corresponds better
to O. N. hjarni than to umlauted
Dan. hjerne, O. Sw. hiärne.
Ill, will. Both
show assimilation of ld to ll.
Cp. O. N. illr, villr, but Dan. ilde, vild.
Rund, roond, is rather
the O. N. rond than Dan. rand.
Ser, seir corresponds better
to O. N., O. Ic.
sér than to O. Dan. sær. This change of
e to
æ in Dan. was, however, late, i.e., in the last part of the
10th Century. See Noreen P. G.2 I, 526.
Slak, O. N. slakki.
Shows W. Scand. assimilation of nk > kk.
Stapp, O. N. stappa.
Has W. Scand. assimilation
of mp > pp. Cp. cappit.
Stert is O. N. sterta.
Cp. Dan. styrte.
Wandreth is nearer to O. N.
vandræði than to O. Dan. *vandraþ (Brate),
from which N. Dan. vanraad.
Monophthongization of ou to o, ai to i (e), öy to ö took place in O. Dan. about 900. The Scand. loanwords in Eng., where the monophthong might be expected to appear, nearly always have the diphthong, however, which as we know was kept in W. Scand. Have such words been borrowed from W. Scand. then, or were they borrowed from Dan. before the period of monophthongation? Danish settlements began in the latter half of the 9th Century, but Dan. (and Norse) and Eng. did not merge immediately. Scand. continued to be spoken throughout the next century down to the beginning of the 11th Century (Noreen). Brate says the majority of loanwords probably came in in the beginning of the 10th Century. Wall points out that the Mercian and the Northumbrian Gospels of the 1st part of the 10th Century show extremely small traces of Scand. influence. It would seem, then, that the greater number of loanwords came in after monophthongation had taken place in Dan. The following dates for the appearance of loanwords in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle may be of interest. These are all taken from Egge's article, "Norse Words in the A-S. Chronicle."
Hold first appears in 905, then again in 911 and 921; law in the present sense is first used in 959; in 1002 is first found the word grith, peace, which at once became common; lætan, to think, is first found in 1005. In 1008 appears sagth; in 1011 hustinge; 1014 utlagian; 1048 the noun utlah; 1016 feologan; 1036, 1046, 1047, lithmen, sailors; lith, fleet, in 1012, 1066, 1068, 1069, 1071; in 1055 sciplith; in 1036, 1041, 1054, 1045, and 1071 huscarl; hamule, hamle 1039; ha 1040; hasata, rower, (O. N. há-sæti) in 1052; in 1048 bunda and husbunda; 1049 nithing; in the same year also the phrase scylode of male, paid off (O. N. skilja af máli); 1052, 1066 butscarl, boatsman, hytte in 1066, wyrre 1066. In 1072 for the first time appears tacan; in 1076 hofding and brydlop, etc.
We may conclude that the Scand. elements that had come into O. Eng. in the beginning of the 10th Century were not large. From the middle of the century they came in in large numbers, but the period of most extensive borrowing seems rather to be the last part of the 10th and the first half of the 11th Century. Wall suggests that the Dan. spoken by the Dan. settlers in England was of a more archaic kind than that spoken in Denmark—that this might in many cases account for the archaic character of the loanwords. We know that the settlements in central England were predominantly Dan. as opposed to Norse. The Scand. place-names as well as the character of the loanwords in the Ormulum indicate that. It is probable, then, that monophthongation took place later in the Dan. spoken in England than in that spoken in Denmark. The following is a list of some of these words found in Scotch. O. N. æi, Dan. e: bayt, to graze; blaik, to cleanse; graip, a fork; grane, a branch; graith, to prepare; laike, to play; slaik, to smoothen; lairing, gutter; the Yorkshire form lyring (Wall) seems to show an original monophthong. O. N. öy: careing, smaik. O. N. ou, Dan. ö: blout, bare; douff, dull; gowk, a fool; haugh, a knoll; loup, to run; louse, loose; nout, cattle; rowt, to roar; rowst, to cry out; stowp, a beaker; stour, a pole.
It will be seen from the above, leaving out of consideration the diphthong ou and ai, that the character of a large number of the loanwords is Norse. In a great many cases the E. and W. Scand. form of the word was the same. There are, however, a few words in Sco. that bear a Dan. stamp: sprent, donk and slonk exhibit E.Scand. non-assimilation of nt and nk to tt and kk. Snib corresponds to Dan. snibbe, cp. M. E. snibben. All these have the umlaut. Eng. snub, M. E. snubben and O. N. snubba have the unumlauted vowel. Bud agrees closer with Dan. bud, budh, than O. N. boð, Norse bod. Thraive (Dunbar) and threave (Ramsay) both indicate an original a-vowel, hence correspond better to Dan. trave than O. N. þrefi. To these may be added bask, flegger and forjeskit, which are not found in W. Scand.
2. (a) The Old Northern Vowels in the Loanwords.
The values given in the following tables are for Middle Scotch. The symbols used do not need explanation:
Short Vowels.
a.
O. N. a in originally close syllable >
æ, written a: anger, hansell, apert, ban,
blabber, slak, cast, chaff, dash, dram,
bang, fang, stang, lack, etc.
O. N. a in originally close syllable before
r remains a: bark, carl, carp, farrand,
garth, harth, scarth, swarf,
and harsk (O. Dan.).
O. N., O. Dan. a in close syllable >
é in blether, forjeskit, welter.
a in close syllable > ē (ay,
ai) in aynd, baittenin.
a in close syllable remains a,
written o in cog.
O. N. a in originally open syllable
regularly becomes ē, written a, ai, ay:
dasen, flake, maik, scait, etc.
O. N. a + g > ē
written ai in braid, gane (to profit).
a + g > aw in bawch.
In mawch ð fell out and a developed
as a before g.
e.
O. N. e remains in airt, bekk,
bleck, cleck, cleg, egg (to incite),
elding, esping, fleckerit, freckled, gedde, gengeld, kendell, melder, mensk, nevin, werr, spenn, stert, sker.
elding, esping, fleckerit, freckled, gedde, gengeld, kendell, melder, mensk, nevin, werr, spenn, stert, sker.
O. Dan. e remains in sprent.
O. N. e becomes i in lirk,
kitling, and before ng in ding, flingin,
hing, and also in skrip, styddy.
O. N. e > æ, written a,
in dapill, clag. Cp. sprattle in Burns.
> æ before r in ware.
> a before r in karling.
O. N. e > i in neefe
(nieve).
O. N. e appears as u in
studdy. See word list.
O. N. e (from older æi) >
ē in hailse.
e + g > e written a,
ai: e.g., haine, gane (to suit).
i.
O. N. i generally remains i:
bing, grith, kist, link, lite,
titling, wilrone, frequently written y: byng,
chyngill, gyll, etc.
O. N. i before st > e:
gestning, restit.
i > ī in ithand
(ythand), and ei in eident.
o.
O. N. o remains o: boldin,
bolle, brod, costlyk, loft, rock, etc.
O. N. o + g > ow
in low.
u.
O. N. u generally remains u:
bught, buller, clunk, cunnand, lucken,
ugg, clubbit, drucken, skugg. The sound of
u in O. N., however, was approximately that of oo
in "foot."
O. N. u > ū in drook.
y.
O. N. y always becomes i,
written i, y: big, birr, filly,
flit, trig, wyndland, gylmyr. The O. N.
y had approximately the value of Germ. ü.
æ.
O. N. æ > e in ettle.
ö
O. N. ö > e in gleg,
glegy, appears as u in slut.
O. N. ö, u-v-umlaut
of a, becomes æ, written a: daggit,
ragweed, tangle.
O. N.
ö, u-umlaut of a in originally open syllable,
like open a, > ē in spale.
Hence u-umlaut does not appear in loanwords.
ja (ia).
O. N. ja > a in
assle-tooth, harn, starn.
> e in sker and stern.
jö (iö).
O. N. jö > a in tarn.
O. N. jö > i before r
in firth, gyrth (gjörth), gyrthin.
Long Vowels.
ā.
O. N. ā regularly > ē,
written a, ai, ay, ae, ei (?): baith,
blae, bray, braith, fra, frae, lait,
craik, ra, saikless, spay, etc.
O. N. ā + g > aw,
awch, aigh, aich, awsome, law, sb.
law, adj. lawch, beside laigh and laich
in N. Sco.
O. N. ā + l > ow
in chowk (O. N. kjálki).
ē.
O. N. ē remains in ser,
seir.
ē > ǣ, written a,
in fallow.
O. N. ē before tt > i,
written y, in tytt. Cp. titt in W. Norse dial.
ī.
O. N. ī most frequently remains
ī, written i, y: flyre, gryce,
grise, myth, skrik, rive, ryfe,
tithand, etc.
O. N. ī appears as e in
skrech, probably pronounced skrich.
O. N. ī > ē,
written ei, in quey, gleit, keik.
O. N. ī > ĭ in
scrip, wick, and before original xl in wissle
(wyssyl).
The corresponding word in Norse also has a short
vowel, but changed to e, veksl, vessla (and
versla).
ō.
O. N. ō > ū, written
o, oo, u, eu: crove, rove,
unrufe, hoolie, hulie, lufe, ruse,
roose, sleuth, tume.
O. N. ō > ou in
clour.
ō > oy in toym
(Bruce), exact sound uncertain.
ō + l > ow in
bow.
ū.
O. N. ū remains in buth,
grouf.
O. N. ū generally > ou,
ow: boun, bowne, bowk, cow,
cour, etc.
ū > ō in solande,
stot.
ū > ŭ in busk.
ȳ.
O. N. ȳ regularly > ī,
written i, y: lythe, tyne, sit,
skyrin, snite. Cp. y.
O. N. ȳ appears as ē
(ei) in neiris, exact sound not certain. Cp. ȳ
before st > ĭ in thrist (O. N.
þrýsta).
ǣ.
O. N. ǣ remains in hething.
ǣ > e in sait.
ǣ > e, e, in
rad, red, radness, etc.
Diphthongs.
ai.
O. N. ai > ē, written
a, ai, ay, ei: bait, bein,
bayt, blaik, dey, grane, graip,
graith, heid, laif, lairet, lairing,
lak, laiching, thwaite, waith, slaik,
swage, raise, tha.
O. N. ai > i in
nyte (?).
O. N. ai is represented by i
before r in thir. Cp. Cu. thur.
O. N. ain > en initially
in enkrely.
öy.
O. N. öy > ē, written
e, ai: careing, dey, smaik.
öy > e in yemsel
(yhemsell), may be a case of Dan. monophthongation.