Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/226

deafen, vb.; for the second part see jora, sb.

degi [dēgi, degi], sb., swamp; morass; very wet piece of ground, hollow; “de coo [‘cow’] is doon [‘down’] i’ de d., geng and look efter [‘after’] her!” U. (U^wg.). Also found as a place-name, esp. in Unst. degi may stand for *digi and be O.N. díki, n., swamp; morass, which word is still common in Icel., Fær. and No. The word might, however, also be a deriv. of *deig- (O.N. deigr, adj., soft) or *dig- (No. diga, f., and dige m., soft, quaking mass; digemyr, “deegemyr”, f., quagmire).

dekk [dɛk (dek, dæk), dək], sb., sea-bottom, tabu-name, used by fishermen at sea; de line is i’ de d., de “steed” (the sinker of the long-line) is at de d. Occas. also in a wider sense of bottom in general. dɛk: comm. dək: Uⁿ. (Har.). Besides dekk [dɛk] a form dekki [dæ‘ki] is found in Fo. Prob. O.N. dǫkk, f., No. dokk and dekk, f., hollow, depression.

del [dē^əl and more comm. del], sb., deal; part. O.N. deill, m., and deild, f.; del merges into Eng. deal, sb. Cf. the foll. word.

deld, djeld [dⁱēld, djē^əld, ᶁē^əld, ꬶē^əld (djeld), ᶁeld, ꬶeld], sb., a plot of ground, esp. a strip of grassland, pasture (home-field), a d. o’ girs [‘grass’]; N.I.; in U. also cultivated patch, part of a field: a corn-d. The forms with a long e (ē, ē^ə) are peculiar to Fe.; djeld, ᶁeld: Y.; (djeld) ᶁeld, ꬶeld: U. The word is commonly used in place-names, esp. as the last (second) part of a compd., denoting a plot of land (piece of home-field), cultivated patch. While the forms with softened initial d or inserted j are now dominant in the common noun d(j)eld, this is not the case with place-names with “deld (djeld)”, where instead, we sometimes

find a softening of l. The word occurs, as a place-name, recorded in the foll. forms: dɛld, dæld, dɛᶅd, däᶅd, dɛ‘lt, djeld, djēld (djē^əld), ᶁeld (ꬶeld). In “de Daldeldins” [dal·dæl·dɩns, -dɛᶅ·ᶁɩns] (Fe^f.), from an original *daldeildirnar, -ins is a survival from O.N. def. pl. -irnar with Eng. pl. -s. See further Shetl. Stedn. pp. 87-88. — O.N. deild, f., deal; portion; Fær. deild, f., plot of land (home-field). Cf. bødi² (bøt), *flet² and *teg, sbs.

deml, demmel [dæməl] and more comm.: dembel [dæmbəl], sb., a splash in the water caused by dipping. *deml from *daml; No., Icel. and Fær. daml, n., splash; splashing. See deml, vb.

deml, demmel [dæməl] and more comm.: dembel [dæmbəl], vb., to splash; to cause a splash in the water by (quick) dipping, to d. i’ de water; often governing an object, thus, esp.: to d. de daffock, lo dip a bucket (with a splash) into the water in order to fill it. *demla, *damla, No., Icel. and Fær. damla, vb., to splash; No. demla, vb., a) to splash, = damla; b) to fill a vessel by pressing it down into the water.

deng [dɛŋ, deŋ], vb., to thrash; strike, O.N. dengja; merges into Eng. and L.Sc. ding, vb., to strike; beat, etc.

denki [de‘ŋki], sb., see dank, danki, sb.

densk [dæ‘nsk], adj., Danish, esp. in the expr. “d. money”, Danish money. N.I. Otherwise comm.: Danish. O.N. danskr, adj., Danish.

dentel-tree, sb., see dintel-tree, sb.

*depel [dɛpəl, dæpəl], sb., (collection of water,) swamp; puddle; a hollow in the ground in which water gathers; now only as a place-name: de D. Uⁿ. A form *debel [dēbəl] is found in Fe. as the name of a loch “Debels-water”. O.N. depill, m., stagnant water; puddle.