Scandinavian influence on Southern Lowland Scotch / A contribution to the study of the linguistic relations of English and Scandinavian

by George T. Flom

Scait, sb. the skate fish. Dunbar, 261, 9. O. N. skata, Norse skata, the skate, M. E. scate. Ir. scat, sgat, id., is a loan-word from O. N. (Cp. Craigie, p. 163). O. N. sk becomes quite regularly sg in Ir. and Gael. Cp. also sgeir < skar. Cu. skeatt exhibits regular i-fracture from older a.

Scaith, scath, vb. to injure. Bruce, IV, 363; XII, 392; R. R., 1323. Not from O. Nhb. sceðða, but from O. N. skaða, Norse skade, with which the vowel corresponds.

Scar, sb. a precipitous bank of earth, a bare place on the side of a steep hill, a cliff. Ramsay, II, 205; Burns, 10, 11. Also written skard, scair, scaur. O. N. sker, a skerry, an isolated rock in the sea. Norse skjær, a projecting cliff, a bank of rocky ground, Dan. skjær, skær, a rock in the water near the land, Sw. skär, M. E. sker, scerre. Cp. Cu. skerr, a precipice. The fundamental idea is "something cut apart, standing by itself." Root the same as in the Norse skera, to cut, Eng. shear and shore, sea-shore. Cp. the O. E. vb. scorian cited by Sweet.

Scarth, sb. the cormorant. Dunbar, T.M.W., 92; F., 194; Douglas, I, 46, 15. O. N. skarfr, Norse skarv, cormorant. Shetland, scarf.

Schoir, sb. a threat, menace. Bruce, VI, 621; Gol. and Gaw., 103. B-S. derive from O. Sw. skorra, O. N. skera.

Scol, vb. to wish one health, an expression used in drinking, just as the Norse skaal is used. Montg. S., 69, 13. O. N. skal, Norse skaal, a drinking cup. Cp. Sco. skull, a goblet. Ir.-Gael. scala, sgaile, a beaker, is a Norse loan-word (Craigie).

Scoug, scog, vb. to shelter. M.W., 20, 19; Isaiah, XVIII, 6. O. N. skuggi, shade, Norse skugge, to shade, Sw. skugga, sb., Dan. skygge, to shade. Spelled scug also in Sco.

Scratch, sb. an hermaphrodite. Jamieson. O. N. skratti, a monster. This form exists in Yorkshire, otherwise the form in Eng. dial. is scrat. See Wall.

Scrip, a coarse or obscene gesture. Wallace, VI, 143. Probably from O. N. skripi. Cp. skripatal, scurrilous language, skripalæti, buffoonery, scurrilous gestures. With the Sco. word cp. the Norse skripa, vb., skripa, sb. f., and Ic. skrípr, sb. m. See Aasen.

Scud, vb. to hurry away, hasten on. Burns, 55, 1, 4. Eng. scud Skeat derives from Dan. skyde, Sw. skutta. The Sw. form is nearest, the Dan. form shows umlaut. The corresponding O. E. word is scēotan.