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1. While the remnants of Norn in
Shetland are fairly scarce and worn out (although we still have some 10 000
words and a number of texts), this is even more true in respect of Orkney
Norn. The only surviving text in the language is the Lord's Prayer,
which is around just
60 words long.
There are reports about another Orkney Norn text, the Norse ballad
Darraðaljóð, re-worked by the English poet Thomas Gray in the 18th
century as "The Fatal Sisters: an Ode" (the Norse original of the song
is featured in the famous Icelandic Saga of Njáll). The knowledge
of this poem still existed in North Ronaldsay, Orkney as late as around
1800 (this remote island seems to have kept Norse
archaisms longer than most of the archipelago). The famous English writer Walter Scott,
who visited Orkney in 1814 collecting material for his novel "The
Pirate", makes the following comment
about the song:
'Mr. Baikie of Tankerness, a most respectable inhabitant of Kirkwall,
and an Orkney proprietor, assured me of the following curious fact:- A
clergyman, who was not long deceased, remembered well when some remnants
of the Norse were still spoken in the island called North Ronaldshaw.
When Gray's Ode, enditled the "Fatal Sisters", was first published, or
at least first reached that remote island, the reverend gentleman had
the well-judged curiosity to read it to some of the old persons of the
isle, as a poem which regarded the history of their own country. They
listened with a great attention to the preliminary stanzas... But when
they heard a verse or two more, they interrupted the reader, telling
they knew the song well in the Norse language, and had often sung it to
him when he asked them for an old song. They called it the Magicians, or
the Enchantresses. It would have been singular news to the elegant
translator, when executing his version from the text of Bartholine, to
have learned that the Norse original was still preserved by tradition in
a remote corner of the British dominions.' (from a note to "The
Pirate")
To our great regret this piece of
Orkney Norn was lost before somebody cared to write it down - it escaped
even the attention of George Low, who left some of the most valuable
records of Shetland Norn, although he served in fact in Orkney. Had
Darraðaljóð been recorded, it could probably have become equally important
to the study of Norse relics in Orkney as the ballad of Hildina is for those of Shetland.
Apart from The Lord's Prayer,
we have at our disposal "The Dictionary of Orkney
Norn" (or just "Orkney Norn") by Hugh Marwick, which is the Orcadian counterpart to Jakob
Jakobsen's "Etymological Dictionary of the Norn language in
Shetland". Marwick's work features
3000 words, contrary to 10 000 entries in Jakobsen's dictionary.
The Orcadian material seems to be much more
worn out and scotticized than that from Shetland. The proportion of words that
are not traced
back to Old Norse in "Orkney Norn" is noticeably higher than in the "Etymological
Dictionary of the Norn language in Shetland" (perhaps, if the latter had been written a few
decades later than it actually was, it would have looked likewise). This being said,
both dictionaries contain a good number of words which have parallels in
Norwegian, Danish and Swedish dialects instead of Old Norse. Marwick's
book features a lot of Scots words and even some of Gaelic origin,
referring more to the Orcadian dialect of Scots than to Orkney Norn
itself, although, like in Shetland, we can not clearly demarcate
the two.
Speaking of Jakobsen's own contribution to the study
of Orkney Norn (he went on an expedition to the islands in 1909, 1910
and 1912) we should first quote his sister Anna Horsbøl (Jakobsen),
who in the
preface to the English edition of the Shetlandic dictionary reveals her brother's
intention to work out "a considerable collection of Orkney Norn". Unfortunately, the
Faroese researcher passed away in 1919 before he could bring this plan about,
having though succeeded in publishing several important articles about Orcadian
relics of the Norse language. Once in a while Marwick
inclines in his book that he uses Jakobsen's vaults, although to what extent he does it, whether all of Jakobsen's
data has found its place in "Orkney Norn" or only a part of it, remains
unclear. In any case, it seems very likely that
Jakobsen's research in Orkney provided nowhere near as much material as his fieldwork in Shetland.
2. The grammar of Orkney Norn, or,
more correctly, Old Norse grammatical archaisms in
Orcadian Scots are very scarce and are summarized in the following
lines.
2.1. Substantives
2.1.1. Singular
2.1.1.1. Nominative/Accusative
As mentioned in General, no distinction between Nominative and Accusative was to
be found in Orkney Norn. The most obvious examples of such a mixing are certainly the loss of the strong masculine -r
(except in very few cases) and replacement of the weak feminine nominative ending -a with the respective accusative one
-o (ON -u). A process similar to the latter must have occured to the weak masculine declension, where the nominative ending -i must have tended to be replaced by the accusative one -a. However, the mixing of -a and -o in the feminine, contributing to the overall confusion of endings, must have overshadowed it, producing weak masculine nouns ending in -o as a result. Another group of weak substantives lost their vocal endings to become undistinguished from strong nouns. The appearance of -o in the strong declension was certainly the reverse effect of this change. To sum up, almost all
variants of the endings mixing became possible:
2.1.1.1.1. Masculine words retaining -er < ON -r:
amiter < úmáttr,
blooter (blout) < blautr,
brander < brandr, merkister < merkjarstaðr, yaager < jálkr
2.1.1.1.2. o < a
kringlo,kringl < kringla,
krummo,kromak < krumma,
mullyo < Sw. mulla
By the anology from the
substantives words in other classes of speech change -a to -o too:
adverbs: reevligo < rífliga
verbs: fordo < forða
2.1.1.1.3.
0(zero) < i
aithken < auðkenni, ang < angi, ayrskifft < arfskifti,
bilge-kod < koddi, biter < *bítari, rag < raki, raim < rjómi,
skift < skifti, tong < tangi, wind < yndi
2.1.1.1.4.
i < i
ogude < ágói,
ruithe < hróði,
saithe < sæði,
wazzi < vasi
2.1.1.1.5.
o < i
arvo < arfi,
klavo < klafi,
lacky,lecko < laki
2.1.1.1.6.
o < a
bikko < bikkja, bitch,
brinno < brenna,
herto < hjarta
2.1.1.1.7.
0(zero) < a
amis < ǫlmusa, almusa (Orkney Norse),
bore [bo:r,bo:ǝr] < bóra,
bram(mo) < Dan. bærme, Nor.
berm,
brecks < brekka
2.1.1.1.8.
o < 0:
grono < grjón (pl.),
kid,kiddo,kiddy < kið,
kleppo < kleppr, kuppo < koppr, skjeldro < tjaldr
2.1.1.1.09.
o < ingr
klino < klíningr,
sillo, sillock < *sýlingr, sýr
2.1.1.1.10.
o vs. ek
blatho < Gael. blaathach, Far.
blak
2.1.1.2. Dative. A few set expressions and forms preserve the Old Norse masculine/neuter sg. ending -i:
agairy < af garði
asee < (yfir, undir) Ási
Brya-grunyie < Breiða-grunni
Hoosavelji < í Húsavelli; according to Marwick, this
form is registered in "Ry." (Rousay? North/South Ronaldsay?), the rest
of Orkney has Hoosavel
Also a feminine dative form:
leggin < í lǫgginni
(in) laaginy < Nor. lag(n)ing + -inni (??)
The following word descends from
a dative expression, but the ending is lost:
forrowhand < fyrir hǫndum
2.1.1.3. Genitive
Genitive endings can be found in compound words. The old genitive ending -s is mostly preserved, sometimes presented as -is. The other endings are mostly reduced to -i or -e. In two cases the old
masculine/feminine ending -(a)r still can be seen:
domismen < dómsmenn
banno-disty < barna-dust
bonie-words < bœnar-orð
geivaless < gæfulauss
geyar-, gyre- < gýgjar-
handigrip < handa(r)grip
hummleband < hǫmluband
katabelly < kattarbelgr
merkister < merkjarstaðr
messigate < messugata
ombisman, umboathman <
umboðsmaðr
urislands < eyrislǫnd
voldro < vallar-mús?
vole-grun < vallar-gróinn
yarromang,manna,myungy <
jarðarmegin (-munr?)
Genitive expression with eliminated ending:
emby < innan bœjar
fainfu < fagnaðarfullr
forcop < fararkaup
2.1.2. Plural
2.1.2.1. Nominative
blooro < blórar
katrisper < kattar-rispur
vandar (vanda) < vandi, pl. vandar (??)
2.1.2.2. Accusative
riggaforaaser <
*hrygg(ir)-yfir-ása. Marwick believed that the final -r
has appeared due to "a false association with English razor". We
think instead that the ending could have simply acquired the final
-r in Norn, like it did in Faroese: Far. hestar, vinir < ON
hesta, vini.
2.1.5. Definite forms
2.1.5.1. Masculine
geyarkarlin < gýgjarkarlinn
tramins < á þrǫminn (??)
kroopan < kroppinn (??)
2.1.5.2. Feminine
keelin < keilan
hoolan < ýla (Far. ýlan?)
grullyan < grýlan
wanboona < *vanbónin??
yern < jǫrðin
leggin < i lǫgginni
Examples from North Ronaldsay:
Burrian < Borgin
Lashan < Flesin
Leean < Hlíðin
Geo na gui < Gjáin góða (Acc. Gjána góðu)
Støǝn < Stǫðin
2.1.5.3. Neuter
witheron < viðrin(i)??
2.2. Adjectives
2.2.1. Strong adjectives
long reed < lǫng hríð
Nue[nø]-biggin < ný bygging
taragott < þat er gott
2.2.2. Weak adjectives
groy < grái
Brya-grunyie < (á) Breiða-grunni
Tongabrey < Tangi breiði
Geo na gui < Gjáin góða (Acc. Gjána góðu)
Neeoquoy < Nýa kví
Langaber < Langa berg
2.2.3. Comparative degree
uiter-ald < ytri 'old'
innerli < innarliga
2.3. Adverbs
reevligo < rífliga
2.4. Pronouns
suistoo < Eng. seest thou!, Eng. dial. seesta, also cf. ON sérðu (sér
þú) 'see you', sástu (sást þú) 'saw you [did you see]'
taragott < þat er gott
me-nain [minε:n] < minn eigin
yin < hinn (+ Sc. yon?)
2.5. Numerals (or substantives derivated from numerals)
ferd < fjórði
setten, settin(g) < séttungr ' a
6th part'
schone, schound < sjaund 'the
7th day'
teind < tíund
bow-teind < bú-tíund
2.6. Verbs
2.6.1. Presens
the're, de'r < +er 'is'
taragott < þat er gott
suistoo < Eng. seest thou!, Eng. dial. seesta, also cf. ON sérðu (sér
þú) 'see you', sástu (sást þú) 'saw you [did you see]'
2.6.2. Past
dyoard < gerði, Nor. gjorde
handselde (Orkney Norse??) < handseldi
2.6.3. Imperative
fordo < forða
2.6.4. Present (active) participle
greyin < grýjandi
2.6.5. Past (passive) participle
forlegen < *fyrirlaginn
hoved < hafinn, hefja
domlad < dómlagðr?
2.7. Prepositions
in under < inn under ON?
forgen < *fyrir-gegen
forrowhand < fyrir hǫndum
riggaforaaser <
*hrygg(ir)-yfir-ása
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