Jakob Jakobsen

“ While the Gaelic words and names in Shetland may date partly from ancient times, and partly from later periods with Lowland Scottish (which contains a large Gaelic element) as an intermediate link, the Pictish element in Shetland is very ancient, and is pre-Northern.
Gradually, as the Scots from Ireland, in the course of centuries of conflict, got the upper hand of the Picts in Scotland, the earlier Pictland, the Picts were forced back, and undoubtedly some of them from the North of Scotland emigrated to Orkney and Shetland. ”

“ It is Lowland Scottish in form; but as I have not found the word either in Scottish or in English dialects, applied in the same sense as in Shetl., I therefore have recorded it in the Dictionary, as I consider it to be an older *løsin (cf. *los and løs, adj., loose) , which has been modified according to Lowland Scottish; similarly with “louse”, vb. and “louse”, adj.
nout, cattle, was remembered by old people in Unst in the close of the 19th century, as having been introduced from Scotland. ”

“ Northern English, from which Lowland Scottish has evolved, is saturated with a Northern, especially Danish, linguistic element, that goes back to the Viking age.
I have, in such doubtful cases, elected to include the material concerned. Where it was a question of words that were common in O.N., and that had followed the usual (Shetlandic) phonetic rules for Shetland Norn, there was indeed no reason for omitting them. ”

“ Celtic (first Pictish, afterwards Gaelic) was certainly the language generally spoken in the interior parts of the country, but the Orkney-Norn had a strong support in the Caithness-Norn, which latter formed a kind of bulwark that checked the advance of the Celtic language towards the north, and prevented it from displacing Norn in Orkney and Shetland. Later, both Celtic and Norn, in Caithness, were displaced by Lowland Scottish. ”

“ Orcadian, latinized Celtic adopted by the Northmen, O.N. Orkneyjar; and, in the second place, Pictland was the natural name for Scotland before the Scots became masters of the country; and, later, for those parts of Scotland, where the bulk of the Pictish inhabitants had taken up their abode, particularly the north-east. In the third place, a name ending in “-land” appears less appropriate to the Orkney Isles, whose chief island, Mainland, is not so large and prominent in relation to the other islands as the Shetland Mainland in relation to the other Shetland Islands. ”

“ And, even in cases where the words did not follow the phonetic rules of Shetland Norn, but were Lowland Scottish in form, doubt might exist, as Norn has been exposed, during so many centuries, to a strong influence from Lowland Scottish, on account of which approximations to the latter speech have occurred, both in the meanings and in the forms of the words.
Several Shetlandic words, although they are English (L.Sc.) in form, must be regarded as of Norse origin on account of their diffusion in Northern languages, especially in Norwegian, Færoese and Icelandic ”

“ The words embodied in the Dictionary can, with single exceptions, be traced back to Old Norse, in some instances to Primitive Norse, partly by direct comparison with the vocabulary presented in Old Norse, partly by comparison with parallel words in later Northern languages, especially Norwegian.
In regard to a small portion of the Shetlandic vocabulary here embodied, it cannot be definitely determined whether the words spring from O.N., or are loan-words from English, particularly Northern English, and Scottish (Lowland Scottish) dialects. ”

“ A great number of words have had an opposite development; from originally denoting a single, definite object, they have acquired other somewhat vague meanings through the original sense becoming obscure and not understood. ”

“ But these Island-groups had already, a long time previously, probably during several thousands of years, been peopled by Celts (Picts) emigrating from the nearest mainland, “Pictland”. This last name is contained in O.N. Péttlandsfjǫrðr, nowadays called “Pettlandfirth” by the common people in Orkney and Caithness, in English misspelt Pentlandfirth, the fairway between Scotland and the Orkney Isles. The name Pettland contained in “Pettlandfirth” has sometimes been construed as referring to the Orkney Islands, but this is hardly correct. ”

“ Fluravog, but on a larger scale, there is in Florevaag a small island just outside the bay, almost opposite this, and the natural surroundings there resemble those of Shetl. Fluravog. As no other Florevaag is mentioned in Norway than that of the Isle of Ask, it is reasonable to suppose that Norsemen settling in Fluravog in Unst, from the Isle of Ask, or its vicinity, on account of the close resemblance to the old Flóruvágr called the new place after it. ”

“ Words with Old Northern meaning changed in form into Eng. (L.Sc.) by divers influences.
When a Norn word, cognate with an English word and having the same sense, has been superseded by the Eng. (L.Sc.) form, a similar anglicising sometimes takes place in a Norn word of the same form as the other, but of different meaning. ”

“ As the L.Sc. ee, sb., eye, has for the most part superseded in Shetl. the older *joga, *jog, hjog (from O.N. auga, eye) , so also has it inherited the various other meanings of *joga, *jog, hjog. Thus ee is now also used for (1) a pool (in a Foula place-name *joga is preserved as the name of a pool) ; (2) a hollow or depression; (3) a peat-bank (= Fær. eyga) ”

“ On the other hand, more strictly phonetical forms have been entered, such as nød and nut, both words from Unst. They are no longer used in the simple sense of cattle (see the Dictionary) ; this alteration and restriction in sense and use show furthermore that they originate from O.N. naut.
A compound such as bambus, hurry-skurry, has been put in, though hardly O.N. bambusel appears in a similar sense (confusion on account of hurry) , which word seems to have arisen from English (L.Sc.) “bamboozle”, which, however, has another meaning (to confuse; deceive; trick) ”

“ The old form *ol has been dropped, as the name for the fish, *ol has been superseded by Eng. “eel”, and the other *ol has then been changed similarly to “eel”. This change must have taken place at a time when the older (Norn) form *ol, as a name for the fish, and the more recent (Eng.) form “eel”, were used simultaneously in Shetlandic.
Many Norn words in Shetland have been fully or partly translated into English (L. Scottish) , but with the special Northern (Norn) meanings preserved.
bank, sb., ledge, as e.g. peat-bank, and banks, pl., steep coast, show anglicising of O.N. “bakki”. ”

“ Shetl. ske [skē] , vb., to wind the snell around a fish-hook, is not O.N. skeiða, vb., to sheathe (the sword, knife) , but comes nearer in sense and use to English sheathe, vb., in the derived, secondary sense of the word, to cover.
In the following I will adduce characteristic words belonging to Shetland Norn, naming at the same time those parts of Norway where corresponding meanings are to be found:
Appendices. ”

“ Sw. dial. (Gothl.) sjåggug, adj.
sjosk, sb.
Da. sjusk-, sjask, Sw. dial. sjosk, “sjåsk”, n.
Many of the Shetl. Norn words have from a more general root-meaning been developed in a specialized or individual sense not found in the mother tongue. Thus, certain words with root-meaning of scrapings, something diminutive or worthless, a grain, particle, are now used in sense of small shellfish, small mussels.
Shetl. fladrek, flodrek, limpets, patella. No. fladra?, flake, splinter. Cf. Fær. fliða [fli̇̄a] , limpet; No. fleda (flida) , flake, splinter. ”

“ Otherwise brekk = No. brekka, while bakk more often denotes brink; edge; bank; steep coast.
brekk (brekks) , sb., Un., corresponds to Germ. “brink”, in sense of a common.
ganfer2, sb., a ghost = Da. genfærd, Sw. genfärd.
gødin, sb. = Da. gødning (manure) .
hjams, adj. = Da. dial. (Jut.) hjamsk.
humska2 (hunska) , sb., blackpudding, a dish made from blood and meal = older Da. humske (hunske) , (impure) liquid.
Shetlandic words with English endings.
Shetl. Norn words, influenced by English, and partly merged with such English words as have a likeness to them in form and pronunciation. ”

“ Shetlandic Norn words or meanings found only in Fær.:
blogaben, sb. = Fær. bløkubein, n.
brill, sb., a buoy, cf. Fær. prilla, a leather-sack.
flingaso (*flignaso) = Fær. flidnasoð, water in which limpets have been scalded, from fliða, f., limpet. No. flida, f., flake, splinter. Cf. Shetl. fladrek, flodrek, limpet, which is the same word as No. fladra, f., a small splinter. flither (flidder) , in N.Eng. dial. (Yorksh.) and in the Isle of Man, is used of limpets. ”