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

by George T. Flom

Sprack, adj. lively, animated. Jamieson. O. N. sprǽkr, quick, strong, sprightly, Norse spræk, spry, nimble, Dan. spræk, M. E. sprac. This is one of a few undoubted Scand. words found in South Eng. diall.

Spil, sb. a stake. Douglas, III, 250, 16. O. N. *spílr, variant of spölr. Cp. Norse spil, in the diall. of Western Norway. See spale.

Sprattle, vb. to walk through mud, to scramble through wet and muddy places as the result of which one's clothes become soiled. Burns, 10, 11, 3; also 68, 1, 3. O. N. spretta, Norse spretta to spurt, sputter, splash, Sw. spritte. On assimilation of nt, cp. sprent. The l is frequentative. Exhibits characteristic Sco. change of e to a before t. Cp. wat for wet, swat for sweat.

Sprent, vb. to start, spring. Wallace, N, 23. O. Dan. sprenta, spurt out, spring, start, O. N. spretta, Norse spretta, shoot forth, spurt. In Cu. a pen is said to sprent when it scatters the ink over the paper. So in Norse. The Sco. word agrees more closely in meaning with the Norse than with the Dan. but exhibits E. Scand. non-assimilation of nt to tt which took place in Norse before 1000. Sw. diall. which otherwise have many W. Scand. characteristics have both sprenta and spritta. The word sprætte also occurs in later Dan.

Sprent, sb. a spring, as the back spring of a knife. Wallace, IV, 238. See sprent, vb.

Stakker, stacker, vb. to stagger. Brace, II, 42; Gol. and Gaw., II, 25. O. N. stakra. See B-S. under M. E. stakerin. Cp. Norse stakra, to stagger, to fall.

Stang, vb. to sting. R.R., 771. O. N. stanga, to prick, goad, also to butt, Norse stanga, Dan. stange, id., M. E. stangen.

Stapp, vb. to put into, to stuff, fill. Dunbar, T.M.W., 99; Montg. C. and S., 1552; Isaiah, VI, 6; M.W. 21, 12. O. N. stappa, to stamp down, Norse stappa, to stuff, fill, same as O. E. stempan, Eng. stamp, Dan. stampe. The assimilated form stampa occurs in Norse beside stappa. The usage in Sco. is distinctively Norse and the vowel is the Norse vowel. Not the same as Eng. stop, O. E. (for)stoppian in Leechdoms. With the last cp. Dan. stoppe used just like Eng. stop.

Starn, sb. the helm of a vessel. Dunbar, F., 450. O. N. stjorn, steerage, helm, Norse stjorn, vb. stjorna, to steer, cognate with Eng. steer, O. E. styrian. For a similar difference between the Eng. and the Norse word cp. Eng. star and Norse stjerne.

Starr, sb. sedge, heavy coarse grass. Jamieson. See Wall under star.