v1.0
Published 01/10/24
flod sb.,
MacLennan 1925 categorises SG flod as an adjective.
in the adverbial phrase air flod [eɾʲ ˈfɫ̪ɔd̪̥] ‘afloat’, is derived by MacBain (1911) from Eng. float, but by MacLennan (1925) and Stewart (2004, 410) from ON floti m. ‘a raft; a fleet’. McDonald (2009, 354) supports a derivation from ON flot nt.,
Which he categorises as an adjective.
used in the prepositional phrase á flot (acc., with motion) or á floti (dat., without motion) ‘afloat’: ON flot acc. would formally be expected to yield SG *[ˈfɫ̪ɔd̪̥], while ON floti dat. would be expected to yield SG *[ˈfɫ̪ɔd̥ʲə] or, with apocope, *[ˈfɫ̪ɔd̥ʲ], or similar. SG air flod seems more likely to be a loan-blend from MScots on flot(e) ‘afloat’ (DOST˄, s.v. 1flot) – the Scots equivalent of the Old Norse phrase – with the Scots preposition on substituted with the Scottish Gaelic preposition air ‘on’ (EG for ‘on, on top of’); a native Gaelic construction might have been *air fhlod, with air from EG ar (leniting) in the sense ‘on account of, because of, for the purpose of’.
SG air flod has a number of variants: the homophonous air phlod occurs (e.g. McAlpine 1832, s.v. plod) by association with plod ‘fleet’ (s.v.); air fleod [eɾʲ ˈflɔd̪̥] and air fleodradh [eɾʲ ˈflɔd̪̥ɾəɣ] are found (e.g. AFB˄), on the analogy of SG fleodradh ‘floating’ etc. (s.v. fleodrainn); and air fleòd [eɾʲ ˈflɔːd̪̥], with a long vowel (Naidheachdan a’ BhBC 4/8/22˄), perhaps under the influence of Eng. float /fləʊt/ (OED˄).