Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch by George Tobias Flom
page 26 of 156 (16%)
page 26 of 156 (16%)
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Norway as 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 _bỳr_ 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 |
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