- fazanedle, for a handkerchief (Ital. fazzoletto.)
- gaude, gladness (Ital. gaudio.)
- guttera, a bottle (Ital. gutto a cruet.)
- gespusa, a bride (Ital. sposa).
- gouter, a counterpane (Ital. coltre).
- schapel, the hat (peculiar to local costume), (Ital. cappello, a hat).
The k in many German words is here written with ch; and no doubt such names as the Walgau, Walserthal, &c., commemorate periods of Venetian rule.
Now for some of the more ‘outlandish’ words:—
- baschga’ (the final n, en, rn, &c. of the German form of the infinitive is usually clipped by the Vorarlbergers, even in German words, just as the Italians constantly clip the final letters of their infinitive, as anda’ and andar’ for andare, to walk, &c.) to overcome.
- batta’, to serve.
- pütze’ or buetza’, to sew or to piece.
- häss, clothing.
- res, speech.
- tobel, a ravine.
- feel, a girl; spudel, an active girl; schmel, a smiling girl.
- hattel, a goat; mütl, a kid.
- Atti,[5] father, and datti, ‘daddy.’
- frei, pleasant.
- zoana, a wattled basket.
- schlutta and schoope, a smock-frock.
- täibe, anger.
- kîba’, to strive.
- rêra’, to weep.[6]
- musper, merry.
- tribiliera’, to constrain.
- waedle, swift.
- raetig werden, to deliberate.
- Tripstrüll, = Utopia.
- wech, spruce, also vain.
- laegla, a little vessel.
- hengest, a friendly gathering of men.[7]
- koga, cursed, also corrupted.
- fegga, a wing.
- krom, a gift.
- blaetz, a patch.
- grind, a brute’s head, a jolterhead.
- bratza, a paw, an ugly hand.
- briegga’, to pucker up the face ready for crying.
- deihja, a shepherd’s or cattle-herd’s hut.[8]
- also dieja, which is generally reserved for a hut formed by taking advantage of a natural hole, leaving only a roof to be supplied.
- garreg, prominent. (I think that gareggiante in Italian is sometimes used in a similar sense.)
Other words in Vorarlberg dialect are very like English, as:—
- Witsch, a witch.
- Pfülle, a pillow.
- rôt, wrath.
- gompa’, to jump.
- gülla, a gulley.
- also datti and schmel, mentioned already.
- Aftermötig (after-Monday) is a local name for Tuesday.
In Wälsch-Tirol, they have
- carega, a chair.
- bagherle, a little carriage, a car.
- troz, a mountain path.
- Malga,[9] equivalent to Alp, a mountain pasture.
- zufolo,[10] a pipe.
- And Turlulù (infra, p. 432) is nearly identical in form and sound with a word expounded in Etrus. Researches, p. 299.
- Of ‘Salvan’ and ‘Gannes,’ I have already spoken.[11]
But all this is, I am aware, but a mere turning over of the surface; my only wish is that some one of stronger capacity will dig deeper. Of many dialects, too, I have had no opportunity of knowing anything at all. Here are, however, a few suggestive or strange words from North and South Tirol:—
Pill, which occurs in various localities[12] of both those provinces to designate a place built on a little hill or knoll, is identical with an Etruscan word to which Mr. Isaac Taylor gives a similar significance.[13] I do not overlook Weber’s observation that ‘Pill is obviously a corruption of Büchel (the German for a knoll), through Bühel and Bühl;’ but, which proceeds from which is often a knotty point in questions of derivation, and Weber did not know of the Etruscan ‘pil.’