ONlwSG

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v1.0

Publishing history:
v1.0: 21/07/25

cnèibeilt m./f. 

MacLennan, s.v. cnèbilt m.; Dwelly App., s.v. crèbilt f.: Sutherland.

and its variants in the sense ‘garter’ are derived from ON *kné-belti nt. (< kné nt. ‘knee’ + belti nt. ‘belt’) by Mackay (1897, 96: Ice. knebelti [sic]), Henderson (1910, 109), MacLennan (1925), Christiansen (1938, 5, 22), Craig (1946, 61), Oftedal (1956, 103; 1983), Campbell (in McDonald 1972) and Stewart (2004, 409). However, as the proposed etymon is attested in neither Old Norse nor English, McDonald (2009, 374) considers the loan uncertain. SG cnèibeilt has a number of forms:

A. SG cnèibeilt(e), cnèabailt(e), ?cnèapailt(e)
A 1. SG cnèibeilt(e) [ˈkʰɾʲɛ̃ːb̥iʎ̪tʲ(ə)]
(i) cnèbilt (MacLennan 1925, so also Stewart 2004, 409; Oftedal 1956, 103: /krɛ̃ːbiL´t´/, Lewis; Oftedal 1983);
(ii) cnebilt (Christiansen 1938, 5, 22, in a Scottish Gaelic text written in an unconventional orthography: Lewis) for cnèbilt;
(iii) cnèibilt (McDonald 1972: South Uist);
(iv) cnèibilte (ibid.).

A 2. SG cnèabailt(e) [idem]
(i) cnèabailt (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄: [kɾɛ̃:bılʹtʹ], Lewis and Harris); cnèabailte (Craig 1946, 61);
(ii) cneabailt (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄: [kɾʲɛ̃:bılʹtʹ], Lewis and Skye) for cnèabailt;
(iii) cnèbaild (Henderson 1910, 109) for cnèabaild (= cnèabailt);
(iv) cnàimh-built (HSS 1828; MacLeod & Dewar 1831; Dwelly 1911: see cneaball), a folk-etymologically driven form 

With SG cnàimh ‘bone’ + the genitive of balt ‘belt’.

for cnèabailt.

A 3. SG ?cnèapailt(e) *[ˈkʰɾʲɛ̃ːʰpiʎ̪tʲ(ə)]
The form cneapailte (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄: South Uist) probably intends cnèapailte, possibly cnèabailte (A2).

B. SG crèibeilt(e), crèapailt(e), ?grèipeilte
B 1. SG crèibeilt(e) [ˈkʰɾʲɛːb̥iʎ̪tʲ(ə)]
(i) crèbeilt (Dwelly App.: Sutherland);
(ii) crebeilt (Mackay 1897, 96: Sutherland) for crèbeilt, above;
(iii) crèibeilt (Thomson 1996a); crèibilt(e) (Robertson & MacDonald 2010).

B 2. SG crèapailt(e) [ˈkʰɾʲɛːʰpiʎ̪tʲ(ə)]
(i) crèapailt (MacLennan 1925: see cnèbilt); crèapailt(e) (Robertson & MacDonald 2010);
(ii) crèapaild (MacLennan 1925, s.v. cnèbilt);
(iii) crèpaild (Henderson 1910, 109: for cnèbaild) for crèapaild;
(iv) creapailld (MacBain 1911, s.v. creapall: Skye) for crèapaild.

B 3. SG *grèipeilte *[ˈɡ̊ɾʲɛːʰpiʎ̪tʲə]
The form greipilte (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄: Harris) is possibly for *grèipeilte, with initial g- under the influence of the synonymous SG glùinean and/or gartan. 

With glùinean from SG glùn ‘knee’ + the suffix -an, and gartan from Scots garten ‘garter’, with final Scots -[ən] adapted to the Gaelic suffix -an [an]).

C. SG cnèapall, crèaball
C 1. SG cnèapall [ˈkʰɾʲɛ̃ːʰpəɫ̪]
In Robertson 1900, 36: Perthshire.

C 2. SG crèaball [ˈkʰɾʲɛːb̥əɫ̪]
MacDomhnuill’s (1741, 19) créabille is copied as creabille in Shaw’s (1780) dictionary (which omits lengthmarks), and possibly ‘normalised’ as creabuill in HSS’s (1828) dictionary.

D. SG cnèabaige [ˈkʰɾɛ̃ːb̥iɡ̊ə]
In Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄, s.v. cneabaige: [kɾɛ̃:biɡʹə], Skye.

ON *kné-belti would be expected to yield SG cnèibeilt(e), or, with loss of nasality, crèibeilt(e). 

Where cn- nominally indicates [kʰɾ] + nasalised vowel in modern Scottish Gaelic, although loss of nasality can also occur (see SGDS Items 209–216).

There is no phonetic distinction between cnèib- ~ cnèab- or crèib- ~ crèab-, nor between final -lt ~ -ld. Forms in medial p, as opposed to b, may be due to the influence of SG creapall, q.v. For final -all (C), cf. SG creapall, perhaps also forms such as SG ceangal ‘tie, bond etc.’. For final -ige (D), cf. the ending in SG mastaige ‘an unpleasant person’ (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄; ?< Scots masta(d)ge ‘mastiff; also applied to a person as a term of abuse’, variant of Scots mastis (SND˄)), rustaige ‘an unpleasant old man’ (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh˄; ?< Scots or Eng. rustic, used substantivally) and cudaige ‘cuddy’ for cudaig, q.v.

SG cnèibeilt(e) and its written forms have been conflated and/or confused with SG creapall, q.v.