Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch | Page 7

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.
5. BY IN PLACE-NAMES. CONCLUSIONS AS TO THIS TEST.
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 _b[`y]r_ is not exclusively 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.
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. _þau_, O.Gutnic _þaun_ = O. Dan. _þusi_ pronounced
_þøsi_. ai, ei > i cp. O. Ic. stein, O.N. _stæin_, O.Gtnc. stain = O. Dan.
stin. io, iau > u cp. O.N., O. Ic. briote, O.Gtnc. briauti = O. Dan. biruti.
Before 1000, _[-e]_ > _æ_ cp. O.N., O. Ic. _sér_ = O. Dan. _sær_
(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. _hældr_ E.S. halder. 3 sg. pres. of halda, "to hold." W.S. _i gær_,
"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. _býar_.
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. _ækkia_, "widow," E.S.
ankia. W.S. batt, "bound," E.S. binda. pret. of binda,