Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/277

ness; enmity, etc. — See eder¹, eter, and jeder, sbs.

etersom [et··ərsȯm·], and etri [ɛtri, ætri, äƫ(ə)ri, äitri], adj., bitterly cold, bitter, of cold; a e. cauld [‘cold’]; freezing cold, e. wadder [‘weather’]. Deriv. of O.N. eitr, n., venom; etersom from *eitrsamr, adj.; cf. O.N. eitrkaldr, adj., freezing cold. The form ending in -som is now rare. etri assimilates to L.Sc. “eterie, etrie”, bitter, cold, etc. More common than the forms given is atri [atri, ātri], “a. wadder”, from L.Sc. “atry, attrie”, adj., a) festering; b) stern; grim; c) irritable; peevish. The modes of pronunc. “äƫ(ə)ri, äitri” may spring from both etri and atri. atersom [ā··tərsȯm], “a. wadder”, noted down in Unst, is a mingling of etersom and atri. Cf. eter and eterskab, sbs.

Eti [ēti], sb., in the phrase: “Goni [gȯni] E.”, name of a goblin, male or female, with which children are threatened. “Goni E. will tak’ dee!” Sa. Perhaps really the eating one, he who eats children?

etifer, sb., see atferd, sb.

etl, ettel, sb., see atl, attel, sb.

ettri [ɛtri, ætri], sb., prop. adj. compar., “de e. o’ de dimm”, the latter half of the midsummer-night, from midnight (de head o’ de dimm, de dabb o’ dimm) till dawn; the first daylight, in midsummer. Also in the forms attri [atri, äƫri], atteri [at··əri·, äƫ··əri·] and äitri [äitri]. The pronunc. äƫ-, äit- may, however, spring from ett- as well as from att-. U. Is doubtless O.N. eptri and aptari, adj. compar., farther back; following; latter (from aptr, adv., back, backward).

ev [ēv, ē^əv], sb., doubt; irresolution; to ha’e a ev aboot onyting [‘something’], to have one’s doubts about something, to be in a ev, to be in doubt. Uⁿ. O.N. ef (if), n.,

doubt; Icel. efi, Fær. ivi, No. eve, m., doubt.

ev [ēv, ē^əv], vb., to doubt; to be doubtful; he was evin (aboot it). Uⁿ. O.N. efa (efask), = ifa (ifask), v., to doubt. In the verse about the crow and the crab (Fe.) we find æve [ǣvə] with a variant ave [āvə] in sense of: (I) am doubtful; I am afraid that; æve (ave) rigrive mog, I am afraid that you will tear my back (the crab to the crow). In the variant from Unst the same line reads: “I’m feared, du ‘rigrives’ me”. Cf. O.N. “ifask” in sense of to hesitate about something.

evalos [ē··valȯs·, ē^ə··va-], adj., doubtful, not to be relied upon, esp. of weather: e. wadder [‘weather’], weather not promising fair. Uⁿ. In Shetl. the word has, by mingling, obtained a meaning opposite to the orig. one; O.N. efalauss, adj., undoubted; sure. The second part of the compd., -los (O.N. lauss, adj., less), in evalos has not been regarded as Eng. -less, but has been reduced to a mere suffix and treated like the Eng. adjectival ending “-ous”, and thereby the meaning of the word has been changed. See ev, sb. and vb.

evel [ɛval], vb., to master; be able to do; I canno (canna) e. onyting [‘anything’] at it, I cannot manage it, the work is too much for me. Uⁿ. O.N. efla, vb., a) to strengthen; b) to master; be able to do.

*even [ēvən] and now iven [i̇̄vən], sb., matter; material; means; esp. in pl.: (*evens) ivens, material; means; he ’s done it ut o’ [‘out of’] sma’ [‘small’] ivens (*evens), he has carried out (that work) with little material or few resources at his disposal. Uⁿ. O.N. efni, n., material; matter; means (at one’s disposal). Owing to Eng. infl., the pronunc. “i̇̄vən” has superseded the older “*ēvən” (cf. Eng. even, adj.).