Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch | Page 7

the Faroes and other Norse settlements. First, the form _b[`y]r_ is not exclusively O. Dan. It occurs several times in Old Norse sagas in the form _byr_ and _by_--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 R?kke, 5 Bind), has shown that by is not peculiar to Denmark and rare in Norway. It occurs 600-700 times in Denmark and Sk?ne, 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.
6. CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD NORTHERN, OR OLD SCANDINAVIAN. EARLY DIALECTAL DIFFERENTIATION.
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):
About 800, older hr > r in Denmark. Soon after 800, older diphthongs became simplified in Denmark, e.g.,
au > u cp. O. Ic. _tau_, O.Gutnic _taun_ = O. Dan. _tusi_ pronounced _t?si_. ai, ei > i cp. O. Ic. stein, O.N. _st?in_, O.Gtnc. stain = O. Dan. stin. io, iau > u cp. O.N., O. Ic. briote, O.Gtnc. briauti = O. Dan. biruti.
Before 1000, _[-e]_ > _?_ cp. O.N., O. Ic. _sér_ = O. Dan. _s?r_ (written _sar_). About 1,000, appears in O. Sw.--O. Dan. an excrescent d between nn and r, e.g., mantr, pronounced mandr (see Noreen, p. 526).
7. OLD NORSE AND OLD DANISH.
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):
1. _I_--(_R_) and _U_--Umlaut in W.S. Absence of it in E.S., e.g.,
W.S. _h?ldr_ E.S. halder. 3 sg. pres. of halda, "to hold." W.S. _i g?r_, "yesterday," E.S. i gar. W.S. _l[o,]nd_, pl. "land," E.S. land.
2. Development of i, e, y into a consonantal i in diphthongs in W. S., not so in E. S., e.g.,
W.S. _siá_, "to see," E.S. _s[-e]a_. W.S. _fiánde_, "enemy," E.S. fiande. W.S. _biár_, "of a village," E.S. _byar_.
3. Assimilation of mp, nk, nt, respectively, to pp, kk, tt in W.S., retention of them in E.S., e.g.,
W.S. kroppen, "crippled," E.S. krumpin. W.S. _?kkia_, "widow," E.S. ankia. W.S. batt, "bound," E.S. binda. pret. of binda,
4. The Medio-passive:
W.S. sk, e.g., kallask, E.S. s, kallas.
5. Pronominal forms:
W.S. ek, _vér_ (_mér_), E.S. iak, _v[-i]r_, _ér_ (_ter_), sem, _[-i]r_, sum.
8. REMARKS.
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. _?_ became _??_ in Iceland, _d?ma_ > _d??ma_. O.N. _??i_ became ei in Iceland, e.g., O.N. _st??in_ > O. Ic. stein, O.N. _b??in_ > O. Ic.