v1.0
Published 01/10/24

Semantic Fields

The following classifies probable Old Norse loan-words in Scottish Gaelic by semantic category:

1. Natural environment:
1. Access: CSc. *aið nt. > SG aoidh ‘isthmus’;
2. Coastal: Indentations: ON hǫfn f. > SG hamhn ‘natural harbour’; ON vág acc. m. > SG bàgh ‘bay’;
3. Coastal: Precipices: ON bratt- adj. > SG *brat ‘steep [place]’; ON kamp acc. m. > SG camp ‘overhang’;
4. Coastal: Projections: ON bergi dat. nt. > SG beirgh ‘promontory’; ON tanga obl. m. > SG tanga ‘tongue of land; promontory’;
5. Coastal: Rocks: ON boða acc. m. > SG bodha ‘tidal rock’;
6. Coastal: Shoreline: ON fit f. > SG fid ‘salting’; CSc. ø̨yrr f. or ø̨yri acc./dat. > SG aoir (faoilinn) ‘raised beach’;
7. Inland: Declivities: ON bakka acc. m. > SG bac ‘bank, slope’;
8. Inland: Depressions: ON dali dat. m. > SG dail ‘valley’; ON dǫkk f. ‘water-filled hollow’, cf. Nn. dokk ‘hollow’, > SG doca ‘pit, hollow, hole’;
9. Inland: Elevations: ON kambr m. (or kamb acc.) ?> (or ⇒) SG cambar ‘comb or crest of hills’; ON knapp acc. ‘hill, small protruding hill or peninsula’ > SG cnap ‘small hill’ (+C5);
10. Inland: Projections: ON tanga obl. m. > SG tanga ‘tongue of land; promontory’;
11. Inland: Recesses: ON skor f. ?> SG sgor ‘notch; cleft, rift’;
12. Inland: Rocks: ON urð f. > SG urrdh ‘pile of boulders’;
13. Inland: Sea, narrows, current: ON haf nt. > SG tabh ‘the open sea’;
14. Inland: Water: ON fors m. > SG fors ‘waterfall’;
15. Inland: Water-logged land: ON botn m. > SG bot ‘basin’; ON díki nt. > SG dìg ‘marsh, bog’;
16. Miscellaneous: ON grjót nt. > SG greòd ‘grit, gravel; → (good) coarse earth, a type of reddish soil; → a number of small things, several; a group, crowd’;


2. Fauna:
1. Fish: ON karfa acc. m. ‘redfish’ > SG carbh ‘sea-bream’ (carbhanach); ON langa f. > SG langa ‘ling’; ON þorsk acc. m. > SG trosg ‘codfish’; ON *uksa acc. m. > SG ucsa, ugsa ‘coalfish’ (ucas);
2. Wild fowl: ON alka f. > SG alc ‘razorbill’; ON geirfugl m. → SG gearrbhall ‘great auk’; ON *haf-svala sb. ‘sea-swallow’ ⇒ SG asaileag ‘storm petrel’; ON lang-vé m. > SG làmhaidh ‘guillemot’; ON ryt acc. m. ⇒ SG ruideag ‘kittiwake’; ON skarf acc. m. > SG sgarbh ‘cormorant’; ON skári m. ⇒ SG sgàireag ‘young gull’; ON starr adj./starri m. ⇒ SG starrag ‘hooded crow’; ON súla f. ⇒ SG sùlaire ‘gannet’; ON svart-bak acc. m. ⇒ SG arspag ‘great black-backed gull’;


3. People and society:
1. Clothing: ON bjalfa acc. m. > SG ?*bealbh(a) (biafal) ‘fur garment, skin, hide’;
2. Parts of the body: ON maga obl. m. ‘stomach’ ⇒ SG baghan ‘stomach, paunch’;
3. Social positon: ON ármann acc. m. ‘official; bailiff; steward’ > SG àrmann ‘hero; chief; officer’;
4. Warfare: ON boga acc. m. ‘bow (weapon)’ > SG bogha ‘bow (weapon)’ (+H1);
5. Miscellaneous: ON knapp acc. ‘knob, button, stud’ > SG cnap ‘button, stud, knob, boss; → lump, potato; blow, thud; gust’ (+A9);


4. Settlement:
1. Buildings: ON búð f. ‘lodging, residence; hut; roofless shetler; tent’ (also ‘shop’ in all modern Scandinavian languages) > SG bùth ‘shop; booth’;
2. Equipment, utensils: ON bolla obl. m. ⇒ SG ballan ‘container for liquid’; ON bytta f. > SG biota ‘butter churn, vessel, pail’; ON síma nt./obl. m. ⇒ SG sìoman ‘rope’;
3. Food and drink: ON bjór acc. m. ‘strong beer’ > SG beòir ‘beer, ale’;


5. Farming:
1. Crops: ON baunir ‘beans’ pl. ⇒ SG pònair ‘bean(s)’;
2. Domestic animals: ON *halsgróp sb., cf. Norw. halsgrop ‘hollow of the throat, indentation above he collarbone’ > SG abhsporag ‘cow’s tongue, throat etc.’;
3. Enclosures: ON garð acc. m. ⇒ SG gàrradh ‘dyke, wall’; ON gerði nt. ‘field, enclosed piece of land’ > SG geàrraidh ‘enclosure, enclosed land; land around or site of house or shieling etc.’;
4. Miscellaneous: ON festi acc./dat. f. > SG feist ‘tether rope’ (+G3);


6. Hunting and fishing:
1. Fishing: ON dorg f. > SG dorgh ‘trailing line for fishing’; ON háf acc. m. > SG tàbh ‘hand-net for catching fish’;


7. Ships, shipping:
1. Boats: ON byrðing acc. m. > SG birlinn ‘galley, barge’; ON karfa acc. m. > SG carbh ‘ship, boat’;
2. Building, maintenance, repair: ON bakkstokka acc. pl. ‘boat support timbers’ > SG bacstoc ‘runner; slip’; ON bora f. ‘bore, hole’ ?> SG bara ‘boat-cradle, boat nest’; ON skorða f. ⇒ SG sgòrradh ‘prop’;
3. Sailing, boating: ON akkeri nt. > SG acaire ‘anchor’; ON akkerissæti nt. > SG acarsaid ‘anchorage’; ON festi acc./dat. f. > SG feist ‘mooring rope’ (+E4); ON fóðra ‘to feed; line a house’ or fóðr nt. ‘feed, fodder; lining in a house’ ⇒ SG fàrradh ‘litter or straw lain in a boat when transporting animals’; ON halsa ‘to clew up or slacken sail’ ⇒ SG abhsadh ‘slackening sail, → tug at a sheet (rope); easing, ceasing, restricting; heeding’;


8. Miscellaneous:
1. ON boga acc. m. ‘rainbow, arch’ > SG bogha ‘bend, arch’ (+C4);
2. ON brak nt. > SG brag ‘bang’.