LL-L "Language contacts" 2002.08.18 (09) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 18.AUG.2002 (09) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: Dan Prohaska (daniel at ryan-prohaska.com)
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2002.08.18 (04) [S]

"God at n dág" dear Lowlanders

   There is quite a large number of Norn words known to us listed in
Jacobsen`s "An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in
Shetland", a
collection of words of Scandinavian origine, or presumed Scandinavian
origine, found in Shetland Scots in the latter half of the 19th century.
The
entry for the verb "forget" is a reconstruction *glem = forget, neglect;
which was then only found in the compound misglöm. Old Norse, or more
precise Old Western Norse had "glöyma" or "gleyma" which corresponds to
the
modern Faroese and Icelandic forms. Though colonial Shetland Norse was
certainly Western Norse for the most part, neither Faroese nor Icelandic
make an ideal base for reconstruction as Shetland was colonised by
Norwegians, but not only Norwegians, ca. 150 to 200 years before the
Faroes
and Iceland, bringing earlier forms of Western Norse to the Isles. Some
of
these forms do not show the typical Old Norse i-umlaut yet. There are
indications that settlers from all over Scandinavian took part in the
colonisation, though Western forms are dominant.

   It is also clear fom an acient Danish burial formula used at St.
Olav`s
church at Ness in North Yell even into the 18th century preserved in the
"Zetlandic Memoranda" (Thomas Irvine of Midbrekk) that Danish had some
official capacity and was used in Shetland, at least for ceremonial
occasions. It reads:

Yurden du art fur af yurden du vis skav`d
Oktoa yurden nu ven doed.
Op fra yurden skal du Opstaa,
naar Herren laar syne bastnan blaa.

Th. Irvine`s translation:

Earth thou art, for of earth thou wast made, - to earth thou returns now
when dead. From the earth thou shalt arise when the Lord shall blow the
last trumpet.

  His translation is problematic, as is also explained in the Jakobsen`s
Dictionary.

   There are also indications of later sound developments typical of
Eastern
Scandinavian, which includes Danish rather than (West-) Norwegian, for
example Shetland Norn words in the 18th and 19th had monophthongs for
the
Old Norse diphthongs /ei/, /öy/ and /au/, which are preserved in the
modern
West Scandinavian languages. This monophthongisation is a characteristic
of
East Scandinavian (east Norwegian, Danish and Swedish). It is unclear
how
old this development in Norn is, but it points toward Danish influence.

   Contact phenomenons are not elobarated on at length in the
dictionary,
but some are mentioned. The dictionary is old and probably needs to be
re-edited, but very interesting nonetheless.

Shetland Norn Proverb (Weisdale, Mainland):

                        Goit a taka gamla mana ró (James Angus)
Old Norse:              * gott at taka gamla manna rádh
                        It`s wise to take old men`s advice.

Dan

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language contacts

Thanks a lot for the information about Shetlandic and Norn, folks.

(And who is going to write (a) short blurb(s) about them and will give
us (a) Shetlandic sample(s) for our ongoing project "Lowlands Talks" ...
;) )

Dan, great stuff above.  Thanks.

> Yurden du art fur af yurden du vis skav`d
> Oktoa yurden nu ven doed.
> Op fra yurden skal du Opstaa,
> naar Herren laar syne bastnan blaa.
>
> Th. Irvine`s translation:
>
> Earth thou art, for of earth thou wast made, - to earth thou returns now
> when dead. From the earth thou shalt arise when the Lord shall blow the > last trumpet.
>
>   His translation is problematic, as is also explained in the Jakobsen`s
> Dictionary.

I don't think anyone with any knowledge of any Scandinavian variety
should have enormous problems translating it.  Here's my shot at it ( ()
= redundant, [] = my additions):

   (The) Earth art thou, for from (the) earth wast thou created,
   And to (the) earth [dost thou return] now that thou art dead.
   Thou shallst Rise up from the earth
   When The Lord causes his [last trumpet?] to be blown.

The only problem I seem to have is _bastnan_.  Perhaps it refers to the
ram's horn, Hebrew _shôphâr_ 'shofar'.

Cheers!
Reinhard/Ron

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