Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch | Page 9

North (cp. §10). No. 13 explains some differences in the later
pronunciation of Sco. and Eng. No. 12 is a characteristic that is much

more common in Middle and Early New Scotch. Many words in this
way became identical in form with their Norse cognates, cp. broder,
_fad(d)er_, etc. This will be discussed later. No. 14, Metathesis of r,
was carried out extensively in W. S. (see Sievers, 179), e.g., beornan
"burn"; iernan, "run"; burn, "a stream"; hors, "horse"; forsk, "frog";
_þerscan_, "to thrash"; berstan, "to burst"; fierst, "a space of time," (cp.
Norse frist, Germ. _Frist_). This progressive metathesis of r is very
common in the South. In the North, on the contrary, metathesis of r has
taken place before ht in _frohtian, fryhtu_, etc. (Sievers, 179, 2). In
addition to these a large number of words appear in Old and Middle
Sco. differing from literary English with regard to metathesis,
sometimes showing metathesis where Eng. does not. A list of words
will illustrate this difference: thyrldom, "thraldom"; thirl, "to enthrall";
fryst, "first"; brest, "to burst"; thretty, "thirty"; thrid, "third"; thirl, "to
pierce thirl"; gyrs, "grass"; krul, "curl"; drit, "dirt"; warsill, "to wrestle";
scart, "to scratch"; cruddled, "curdled"; birde, O.E. brid, "offspring."
The result is that many of these words are more like the corresponding
O.N. words than the Anglo-Saxon (cp. O.N. fristr, brenna, Norse tretti,
tredie, etc.), hence they have in many cases been considered loanwords.
Sco. braist and landbrest, "breakers," (cp. O.N. bresta, _landbrest_),
are not from the Norse but from the corresponding O. Nhb. words.
Cors which occurs in Gau may be a similar case and like Eng. cross
derived from O. Fr. crois, but Gau otherwise shows considerable
Danish influence and Gau's form may be due to that. Eng. curl and dirt
(from O.Du. krul
and O.N. _drit_) have undergone metathesis. The Sco.
words have not.
11. THE QUESTION OF PALATALIZATION IN O. Nhb.
Just to what extent g, c, sc were palatalized in O. Nhb. is not definitely
known. Until this has been ascertained the origin of a number of dialect
words in the North will remain uncertain. The palatal character of g, c,
sc in O.E. was frequently represented by inserting a palatal vowel,
generally e, before the following guttural vowel. Kluge shows (in
Litteraturblatt für germ, und rom. Philologie, 1887, 113-114) that the
Middle English pronunciation of _crin[vg]en_, _sin[vg]en_, proves
early palatalization, which was, however, not indicated in the writing of

the O.E. words cringan, singan. And in the same way palatalization
existed in a great many words where it was not graphically represented.
Initial sc was always palatalized (Kluge, 114 above). In the MSS. k
seems to represent a guttural, c a palatal sound of older c (Sievers, 207,
2). Palatalization of c is quite general. K became palatalized to c in
primitive Eng. initially before front vowels, also before Gmc. e and eu
(Kluge, P.G.(2)I, 991). Kluge accepts gutturalizing of a palatal c before
a consonant where this position is the result of syncopation of a palatal
vowel. In the South palatal c became a fricative ch. According to Kluge
it never developed to ch in Northern England and Scotland, but either
remained c or recurred to a guttural k. The same is true with regard to g.
The exact extent of such palatalization is very difficult to determine. It
is possible that the sound always remained a guttural in the North. We
have seen that c or g did not cause diphthongation of the following
vowel in the North as often as in the South. In view of the fact that
palatalization was not always indicated, this may not prove anything,
but may, however, indicate less palatalization than in the South. The
fact that e or i was sometimes inserted before a following dark vowel,
cp. ahefgia, "gravare," gefragia, "interrogare," proves that
palatalization in these words, at least, existed.
12. SK AS A SCANDINAVIAN SIGN. CERTAIN WORDS IN SK.
PALATALIZATION IN NORSE.
Wall argues that non-palatalization cannot be regarded as a sign of
Scand. influence and cites a number of words in support of this
conclusion (see Wall, §30). With regard to dick, "ditch," and sag,
"sedge," Wall is probably right. Those in sk are, however, not so easily
disposed of. The presence of certain words with sk in the South or those
cited in sh in the North does not prove the case. While the presence of a
word in South Eng. diall. is in favor of its genuine Eng. origin, it does
not prove it, for certain words, undoubtedly Scand., are found in the
Southern dialects. Shag, "rough hair," Skeat regards as Norse rather
than Eng. Scaggy, "shaggy," with initial sk, I would regard as Norse
from O.N. skegg, not from O.E.
sceagga. Shriek Skeat regards as Scand.
Bradley