Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/219

are borren, bruni, fibi or fobi, hali (halin), tik or tek.

*dag¹ [dag, dāg, (dāγ) dāχ], sb., day in the foll. phrases: a) goden (dogen) dag (dagh), good day! Fo.; *góðan dag; b) in the names of a series of holidays, mass-days, such as: Tammasmass-dag [dāg], St. Thomas’s day, the 21st of December; Todleses (Tollegsis, Toljegsis)-d., St. Thorlak’s day, the 23rd of December; jøl-d., Christmas day, — see further under apta, sb. Fo. A form, da [dā] is found preserved in Sa. in a few phrases, such as: “a da’s wark [‘work’]”, a day’s work; prob. L.Sc.; cf. L.Sc. da, daw, sb., = day. A pl. form “dea, day-a [dēa, dɛ̄a]” is handed down in the obs. phrase: dea leng(d)i, mogi sweng(d)i, as days grow longer, stomachs get hungrier (Fo.), see the verbal forms lengi and swengi; dea is a composite form, because “-a” represents the pl. ending “ar” in O.N. dagar, while “de-” is Eng. day. The word is found anglicised in the old compd. “day-set”, sb., the close of day, sunset, = O.N. dagsetr, n. — O.N. dagr, m., day. See the compds. dagalien (dagali), daga-light, dagdwälj, sb. and vb., daggri.

†dag² [dag (dāg), däg], sb., tabu-name, used by fishermen at sea for mitten; usually in pl.: dags. Origin uncertain. Cf. afatag (apateg). — Sometimes dag (däg) is used of a sheep-mark (ear-mark), shaped like a mitten; e.g. in Nm. and De.

*daga [dāga], vb., 3rd pers. sing. pres., handed down in the phrase “hanna d. [häᶇä dâga]”, the day breaks, as an introduction to a fragment of song, partly in Norn, from Y^h. *hann dagar, the day breaks, from O.N. daga, vb., to dawn.

dagali [dag··ali·, dag··əli·], adj., badly done; badly prepared, of

work, food, etc.; dis is d. Y^h. Poss. from *dalk- by metathesis of lk to kl, gl. No. dalka, vb., to bungle; dirty, to stir; root, etc.

dagalien [dā·gali̇̄·ən] and dagali [dag··ali·, dag··əli·, dā··ga-], sb., the decline of day, the beginning of twilight, hit’s [‘it’s’] come to de d., the day declines. N.I. dagalien: Uⁿ., Y^{h, n} (occas.). Sometimes, by transferred use of the break of morning or day (Y^h.); cf. the use of attaljos. The word is also used in certain phrases to denote a long absence: hit [‘it’] will be dagali, ere [‘before’] dey come back, it will be long before they come back (Y.); du’s [‘you have’] been dee a d. (Yⁿ.), you have been long away (said to one coming home about nightfall). Outside the N.I., de heild o’ de day is generally used for dagali(en), (L.Sc. heild, sb., declivity, inclining to one side). *dag-líðan, decline of day; O.N. líða, vb., to wear on, proceed. dagali is certainly orig. used adjectivally in the phrase “hit will be dagali, etc.”; cf. No. “daglidet” in the phrase “det er daglidet”, the day is advanced.

*daga [dāga]-light, sb., daylight, daybreak. Y., Fe. Only preserved in a short rhyme, belonging to the fable of the swan and the heron that fought for the down. “The heron and the swan got the offer, that the one that watched best, and first heralded the dawn, should receive down as a reward. The swan immediately went to sleep, and the heron started watching; but, as dawn approached, the swan awoke and was quite fresh, whereas the heron was about to fall asleep. At the decisive moment the swan called to the heron:

I ha’e de double doon [‘down’] and du de single fedder [‘feather’].”“Hegri, hegri! daga-light i’ de hedder [‘heather’]!