Jakob Jakobsen

“ The developed vowel-sound “ɛ, æ”, in the Shetl. word, is prob. due to L.Sc. infl.; see under the verb geng.
geng [gɛŋ, gæŋ (giɛŋ, ꬶɛŋ, ꬶæŋ) ] , vb., to go, O.N. ganga, L.Sc. gang, geng, vb., denotes both “to go” and “to walk”. The foll. meanings, orig. from Norn, may be noted: a) to swell; overflow, of water in a stream; de burn is gaun [‘going’] ; b) to break heavily; to be in uproar, of the sea, esp. of surf on a sunken rock: de ba is gaun; see ba1, sb.; c) of a current of air, sound-waves: to go; stream; roll; de grittin is gaun, the thunder is rolling ”

“ See gol1, sb. 2, gola, sb. 3, and kast, sb.
golin [gɔlɩn, golɩn] , sb., tabu-name, sea-term, used in fishermen’s colloq. lang. for “ho”, dogfish (a small species of shark) . Un. Prob.: *gálinn, def. form of *gáli, m. Cf. No. gaale, m., and gjæla, f., a fool; “gjæla” is also used as a name for fish, inter alia, in the compd. “haagjæla”, a species of small shark; Icel. gála, f., a) a frivolous woman; b) a trout. — danser is another Shetl. tabu-name for “ho”, dogfish. ”

“ Now obsolete as an independent word, but preserved in some compds.: gordbalk (= gardbalk) , sb., gordhird, vb., gordsimen, sb., gordste, -sti or -stu, merkigord, sb. The expr. “milla gorda [məᶅa gōrda] ”, prop. “between the fences”, O.N. milium garða, is preserved in the Eshaness fishermen’s tabu-lang. at sea; “de Isle (Isle o’ Øja) is milli gorda” is said by the fishermen, in finding a fishing-ground off the north of Mainland, when they have the Isle of Uyea (Nmn.-w.) ”

“ O.N. glit, n., splendour; shine; glitter.
glid [glɩd] , vb., to glitter; shine; gleam out, esp. of the sun; de sun just glided [glɩdəd] ut for a maament [‘moment’] (Nm.) ; de sjiner is glidin t’rough de mirkabrod, the sun is shining through the mist (Conn.; tabu-term at sea in fishermen’s lang.) ”

“ Un. — No. glamsa, vb., inter alia, to make quick (strained, awkward) attempts to grasp, to snatch up. Da. dial. (Jut.) glamse, vb., a) to snap at someone; to growl (of a dog) ; b) to accost someone harshly and angrily. Cf. glums, vb.
glan1 [glān] , sb., a long scratch, a g. i’ de finger. Fe. Cf. No. glan, n., in sense of an opening; an interstice (prop. something staring, gaping) .
glan2 [glān] and more comm. glani [glāni] , sb., a whetstone, tabu-name, sea-term, used by fishermen, comm. ”

“ L. 2) a faint light; dull gleam, esp.: a) moonlight; b) a low fire, the light from a fire half burnt out or from red-hot embers, “hit [‘it’] is just a g.” (Fo.) . 3) de g.: the fishermen’s tabu-name, sea-term, for the moon; comm.; also “de glomer [glōmər] .” More rarely (glom and glomer) as a tabu-name for a lamp (an open train-oil lamp, koli) . — O.N. glámr, m., prop. a dull gleam or light, in poetry: the moon (Eg.) ; Icel. gláma, f., whiteness. — -er in glomer is prob. an orig. nom. -r (the suffixed r of the masc. gender) , glom 1 is most prob. an orig. ”

“ O.N. glóa, vb., to glow; glitter.
glub [glūb (gᶅūb) ] , sb., 1) a gap; ravine. Yh. [glūb] . 2) appetite, recorded as a tabu-word in the foll. exprs., in fishermen’s lang.: der’r nae [‘no’] g. on de fish, the fish will not bite. U. [gᶅūb] . 3) a greedy person, desirous of food; a glutton; greedy animal; partly as an intensive in the compd. ”

“ No. givnad, m., (something congenital) ; a natural ability.
gi’e [gɩ̄, gɩ] , vb., to give; a L.Sc. form of Eng. to give. In special meaning as a tabu-word at sea in fishermen’s lang.: to fail; go to pieces, of a fishing-line, de lines ga’e [‘gave’] (Sa.) ; cf. Eng. “give” in sense of to give way, and No. giva seg, inter alia, to fail; give up, No. givast and Fær. gevast, to become fatigued;to lose one’s strength. — Is, in some phrases with prep. and adv., esp. Norse: a) g. on ur upon, to urge on; work energetically at something, — O.N. gefa á; b) g. ”

“ In a special sense: husband or wife; shø’s gotten a guid (puir) g., she has got a good (bad) husband; he’s gotten a guid (puir) g., he has got a good (bad) wife. U. — O.N. gripr, m., a valuable possession; precious gems, also of living things, esp. of cattle.
griper [grɩpər] , sb., properly one or something that grips, used in the following senses: 1) a midwife (Un.) , = kummer. 2) as a sea-term (tabu-name) for fishing-hook (Fo.) , = nokki1. 3) in the pl., gripers, as a sea-term (tabu-name) for tongs (Fe., Du., etc.) ”

“ Op aboot de ljora (= jora) ! gott (goit) fire monna [fərə mȯᶇa] ! Up about the ear with the paw (wash round your ear) ! it is good for the mouth, i.e. it bodes well for fishing. “gȯit” is found in an obsolete, proverbial phrase from Wd.: gott a taka gamla manna ro, it is good to follow old men’s advice. A doublet gooit [gō·ȯit] is found in a fragment of a song from Yh.: see Introd. (Fragments of Norn) . — O.N. gott (*gótt) , n., from góðr, adj., good.
goul, sb. and vb., see gjol, sb. and vb.
gouster, sb. and vb., see guster, sb. ”

“ From Uwg. is reported gamferi [ga‘m··fəri·] , a great muckle g., in sense of a very big person. — *gagn-ferð or *gegn-ferð, f., really a haunting by ghosts. Sw. genfärd, f., Da. genfærd, n., a ghost.
gang [ (gaŋ) gäŋ] and gjang [ (gjaŋ) gjäŋ] , sb., prop. a going; gait, noted down in the foll. senses and applications: 1) gang = geng: a) a passage; a thoroughfare; b) a floor (“that on which or over which one goes”) ; Fladab., Conn. 2) gjang: a) a turn; walk, esp. to the peat-bog in carrying home the dried peats on horseback, and comm. counting the journeys (pl. = sing.) ”

“ See further golder, sb., and galder, vb.
goldet [gȯᶅdət, gɔᶅdət (gåᶅdət) ] , adj., prop. perf. part., applied to flesh or fish: decayed (esp. rapidly decayed by the effect of the sun or through want of fresh air) , beginning to putrefy. U. “gȯᶅdət” is the common pronunc.; from Un. is recorded “gɔᶅdət, gåᶅdət”. — *g (a) úldinn. Icel. úldinn, adj., putrefied, decayed. The initial g is prob. the old Germ. prefix “ga”-, early dropped in Norse. For the occurrence of the prefix “ga” in other Shetl. words see gjoger1, gloger, gold, sbs., as well as “angaluck” (under andelokk, sb.) ”

“ Is doubtless O.N. gøyma (geyma) , vb., to pay attention, etc., with a later dropping of i-mutation through infl. of gum2, sb.
gumbet [gombət] and gombet [gȯmbət] , adj., coarse of appearance, repulsive, g.-lookin’. Sometimes also of weather: ill-boding, hazy and windy; g.-like wadder [‘weather’] or sky. Ai. In the first-mentioned sense poss. to be classed with No. gamp, m., a big, coarse (strong) body; a heavy, clumsy person. Might, however, like the syn. gumset (from *gumsa, f., a ewe) , also be associated with “gumma”, f., which in Sw. dial. denotes a ewe. ”

“ Fær. gróm, n., mud; dirt, and “grómutur”, adj., = grímutur, having dirty stripes (spots) on the face, grimy, further grima, grimi, sb., syn. with groma 2, as well as gromi, sb., a cow (striped in the face) . Besides “grȯma”, in sense 3 (gossamer) , a form of pronunc. “grəma” is found in Ai. Owing to the short main vowel-sound in Shetl. “groma, grȯma, grəma”, the word is poss. not to be directly derived from O.N. gróm; note parallel forms in No. with short vowel, such as: grum-, grym (j) -, in “grumen” and “grymjen, grymen”, adj., muddy. Shetl. “grəma” most prob. ”

“ As the first part in place-names, gord is found in the compds: a) gordsende, gordsend [gɔ‘rsæn·də, gɔ‘rs·ɛnd·, gå‘rsən (d) ] , a place where an old fence ends or formerly ended (O.N. garðsendi, m., the end of a fence) , still partly understood by the older generation; b) gordste [gɔ‘rste, gå‘rste, -stə] , still used as a common noun ”

“ N.I. From kjós-? (O.N. kjóss, m., a deep or hollow place, Fær. kjós, f., the gizzard) . Most prob. a dialect transformation of Eng. gizzard (dial. gizzern) , sb. But kjós > køs > gøs is a regular development of sound in Shetl. Norn.
gøsinfjog [ꬶøs··ɩnfjɔg·] , sb., only noted down in the phrase “to speak wi’ de tongue o’ g.”, to tattle, to talk nonsense. Ai. (Onjefirt’) . The first part of the compd. is prob. No. gysja, O.N. (Icel.) gussa, vb., to gossip. The second part is uncertain: folk? ”

“ U. (Un.) . globaben, “a guid [‘good’] g.”, is reported from Uwg. in sense of a fat bone of a halibut. Poss. the same word as globaben, mentioned in a diff. sense under gløbiben. Note, however, blogaben, sb., from which globaben may be thought to have arisen by metathesis of b and g.
globaben2, globnaben, sb., see gløbiben.
globeren [glō··bərən·] , sb., de g., the moon; a sea-term, tabu-name, used by fishermen. L. Prob. *glápari-nn (def. form) , m., the glaring, staring one; Icel. glápa, vb., to stare, glare. Cf. Shetl. glom, glomer and glunt- (glont-) as tabu-names for the moon. ”

“ Sw. dial. gimpa, vb., to swing one’s hips. — Cf. gumbos, gumpel- and gombel, sbs.
ginket [ꬶi‘ŋkət, ꬶɩ’ŋkət (gi‘ŋkət) ] , adj., of a certain nature or stamp; in the compd. “ill-g.”, wicked by nature; deceitful. Y. (Yn.) . Poss. to be classed with No. gin, f., nature; disposition; quality. ginket [gi‘ŋkət] is used in a diff. and intensive meaning in the expr. “a g. fool”, an arrant fool; an imbecile person, etc., poss. a constantly giggling fool, from L.Sc. gink, vb., to titter; snigger; in a similar sense “a glinket [glɩ‘ŋkət] fool” ”

“ Cf. gonga, sb.
geng [gɛŋ, gæŋ (ꬶɛŋ, ꬶæŋ) ] -aboot, sb., someone or something going about, esp., a) person always courting and playing the coquette, a giddy girl; b) tabu-name (sea-term) for tongs; c) g.-a. støri (Yn.: gæŋ··-abut·) = aboot-geng, sb.; q.v.
genger [gɛŋər, gæŋər] , sb., in pl. in the phrase “upo de (ane’s) gengers”, of the sun: at sunrise; tabu-term, belonging to fishermen’s lang. Du. “de sjiner is upon his gengers, and de glomer is gane dere [‘there’] ” (with stress on ‘dere’) , the sun is rising and the moon has set. genger is here prob. Da. ”

“ In the sense of disguised (masked, straw-dressed) person, L.Sc. guizard, (Shetl.) “guiser [ (gaisər) gäisər] ” is now commonly used outside the N.I. 2) snow-man, a snawie [‘snowy’] g. Fo. [grølək] . — Two forms with dropped i-mutation: gruli [grūli] and grulja [groᶅa] , are reported from Conn. (Fladabister) in sense of disguised (masked) person, esp. a person dressed up like a witch; gruli is mostly used in the compd. “minnie-gruli” (L.Sc. minnie, sb., good woman, old woman) ; to play m.-g. — O.N. grýla, f., a bugbear; an ogress; Fær. grýla, f., a bugbear; a masked person. ”

“ Sw. díal. glipa, vb., to gape; to be ajar, = gløypa 2 in Aa.) . — A globaben, in a diff. sense, is found in Unst; q.v. — Cf. klovaben, sb.
glød [glød] , sb., 1) red-hot embers; a fire burnt down to embers (opp. to bol, es, bas, denoting a flaming fire) ; a g. o’ fire; de fire is in a g., the fire has burnt down, is lying in embers. 2) a faint light from the fire on the hearth; der’r a g. frae de fire, a g. i’ de fire. 3) a strong, brief heat from the sun ”

“ Shetl. jøl-stikk, sb.
golla (golja) [gȯᶅa] , sb., 1) a young woman attending a mother at the baptism of her child in the church. N.I. 2) godmother (U.) ; cf. golla-bairn. 3) occas. denoting a midwife (= kummer, griper) , and then commonly with addition of the name of the person in question; “g. so and so (midwife so and so) ”. — O.N. kolla, f., a woman (as the second part of a compd., e.g. in “kirkju-kolla”, a woman connectea with the church) ; No. kolla, f., occas. in sense of a charwoman; maid-servant (east No., “kulle”) ; Sw. dial. ”

“ Cf. gronn, gronni, sb.
gronn [grȯᶇ and gronni [grȯᶇɩ] , sb., 1) ambiguous disposition in a person. 2) inclination to hint darkly at something; I kenn (I know) his gronn. 3) a) ambiguous mode of expression; b) covert remark; I kenn by deir gronni, what dey want. 4) sulkiness; dissatisfied state of mind, disinclination to speak plainly, hinting at something; I kent what was in his gronni, I knew what he was brooding over. Conn. — The word is prob. derived from O.N. grunr, m., handed down in sense of suspicion. Cf. No. grun and grune, m., a) supposition; b) brooding, speculating; Sw. dial. ”

“ In Nmw. golti [gȯ‘ᶅti] was also used by fishermen as a tabu-name for cod. In St. golt is used as an abusive term for a stupid person: stupid g.! For the diff. modes of pronunc. and for their distribution see further under galti, sb.
goltirigg, sb., see getlarigg, sb.
gombel [gȯmbəl] , sb., swell, heavy sea, esp. with choppy waves; crested sea; der’r a great g. i’ de sea. Also gommel [gȯməl] . Conn. Prob. for an older *gompel, *gumpel, jumping; casting; throwing, etc. ”

“ In place-names the word is occas. found in the def. form: de Gamla [gamla] , also called by a more modern and translated name “de auld grund”, “the old ground”, a fishing-ground, visited by fishermen from Westing in Unst (Uw.) . Further: Øje gamla [øjə gamla] , a fishing-ground between Fetlar and Skerries: *iðan (?) gamla (O.N. iða, f., backward-running current, eddy, is found as a name of fishing-grounds; see Fr.) ”

“ O.N. granni, m., a neighbour, Da. grande, id.
gratta [graƫa, gräƫa] , and gratter [graƫər, gräƫər] , sb., 1) very low water at ebb-tide, exposing a larger part of the foreshore than usual; 2) a large stretch of the foreshore exposed by an unusually low tide. Yh. Partly in the phrase “a (great) gratter o’ a ebb” = a “gravin’ [grēəvin] -ebb”. The word is found in many different forms, besides those given: a) graitek [graitək] (Yn.) ; b) grotti [grȯiƫɩ] and grottek, groitek [grȯiƫək, grȯitək, gråitək] (U.) ; grotti: Umo.; grottek, groitek: Um, n. ”