17. Dropping of final n in infinitives in Northumbrian.
[10. Remarks. Metathesis of r.]
The above characteristics of O. Nhb. will not only explain a great many later Scotch forms, but also show that a number of words which have been considered loanwords are genuine English. Sco. daw, "day," need not necessarily be traced to O. N. dagr. The W. S. dæg gave Eng. day. Dæg is also the Northern form. Daw may of course be due to a in the oblique cases, but according to 2 dag may have appeared in the nominative case early in the North. This would develop to daw. Sco. daw, verb, "to dawn," is easily explained. W. S. dagian > dawn regularly, Nhb. dagia (see 17 above) > daw. The O. N. daga, "to dawn," is then out of the question. Sco. mauch, "a kinsman"; the O. E. form was mæg, which would have given may. In the North the g was probably not palatal. Furthermore a Northern form mag would regularly develop to maw, might also be mauch (cp. law and lawch, adj., "low," O. N. lagr). O. N. magr, "kinsman," may, however, be the source of mauch. Sco. hals is not from O. N. hals, but from O. Nhb. hals which corresponded to W. S. heals; Sco. hawse, "to clasp," (Ramsay, II, 257); comes from O. Nhb. halsiga, W. S. healsian. (Sco. hailse, "to greet," is a different word, see loanword list, part II.). Forms that appear later in standard English frequently are found earliest in the 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 crinǧen, sinǧen, 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 derives it from O. L. G. scricon which is found once in the Heliand. Eng. dial. skrike. Wall on the other hand derives it from O. E. scricon, since scric is found. Scric occurs in O. E. as the name of the shriekbird. The vb. is not found. Whether we regard "shriek" native or not, scrike is to be derived from O. N. skrika. Skeer is from O. N. skera; sheer from O. E. sceran. In form if not in meaning, we have an exact parallel in the M. E. skir, "bright," from O. N. skir, and schir from O. E. scir. In a few cases words that seem Scand. appear with sh, not sk. The etymology of such words, however, becomes rather doubtful. This is especially the case where in the Norse word a guttural vowel followed the sk. Where, however, the Norse or Dan. word had a palatal vowel after the sk the change to sh is not at all impossible, and here arises the question of palatalization in O. N. O. N. skiól, pron. sk-iól, with sk, = Norse skjūl (pron. shūl). Ski thus becomes sh in O. N. skilinn, Norse shil, O. N. skilja, Norse shilja (or skille), O. N. skipta, Norse shifta. West Norse also shows change of k to ch before i where the k has been kept in East Scand., e.g., O. Ic. ekki = W. Norse (dial.) ikkje or intje, pron. ittje, intje, Dan. ikke (igge). I between sk and a dark vowel early became j in Norse, which then gave the preceding sk something of a palatal nature. The development of O. N. skiól into shiel in Scotland and England may be explained in this way, as skiól > shul in Norway. This is, however, to be understood in this way, that if an i or e followed the sk, this was in condition to become palatalized, not that it was at all palatal at the time of borrowing. The sound was then distinctly guttural, and the guttural character of sk has in nearly every case been kept in Scand. loanwords in English, for palatalization of O. E. sc was completed before the period of borrowing. This palatalization of sk was general in Scotland as well as in England, and such words in sk must be regarded as Scand. loanwords.
[13. Conclusion as to the Test of Non-palatalization.]
As initial sk, corresponding to O. N. sk, O. E. sc, is due to Scand. influence, so, in general, medial and final sk may be also so regarded: cp. here Sco. harsk, "harsh," bask (adj.), mensk, forjeskit, etc. The guttural character of g and k in Sco. is not to be regarded as due to Scand. influence. Thus mirk, reek, steek, streek, breek, dik, rike, sark, kirn, lig, brig, rig, etc., are to be derived from the corresponding O. Nhb. words, not from O. N. There is something of uncertainty in these words, however, as they all could come from the O. N. O. N. hryggr, for instance, would become rig in Sco., just as would O. Nhb. rycg (rygg). O. N. bryggia would become brig, just as well as O. Nhb. brycg (brygg). The i after g in bryggia does not hinder this, since, as we know, the O. N. word was pronounced brygg-ia, not bryddja, as a later form would be.