Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/386

bone of a fish; de turbot [‘halibut’] gromd aff de tom wi’ his granis, the halibut gnawed through the snell on the fishing-line with its jaws or teeth (Uⁿ.). U^{n., w}.; Nm^{n., w}. 2) a cut in the end of a thwart where it is mortised, enclosing the ribs(de band), de g. o’ de taft. Sandw.; Du. — O.N. grǫn (gran-), f., muzzle; lip; jaw. See graniben, sb.

graniben [gran··iben·], sb., the jawbone of a fish, = O.N. granbein. Nm^{n., w}. Also gronaben [grɔn··aben·]: Uⁿ. *granar-bein. For the first part of the compd. see prec. grani, sb.

granni [grani], sb., familiar address to a person: my friend! comrade! Partly in jest or mockery. Naa, g.! no, my friend! Papa St. O.N. granni, m., a neighbour, Da. grande, id.

gratta [graƫa, gräƫa], and gratter [graƫər, gräƫər], sb., 1) very low water at ebb-tide, exposing a larger part of the foreshore than usual; 2) a large stretch of the foreshore exposed by an unusually low tide. Y^h. Partly in the phrase “a (great) gratter o’ a ebb” = a “gravin’ [grē^əvin]-ebb”. The word is found in many different forms, besides those given: a) graitek [graitək] (Yⁿ.); b) grotti [grȯⁱƫɩ] and grottek, groitek [grȯⁱƫək, grȯitək, gråitək] (U.); grotti: U^mo.; grottek, groitek: U^{m, n}.; c) by dropped initial g: ratter [ratər] (Haroldswick, Uⁿ.); rater [rātər] (Hillswick, Nm^w.); a “ratter (rater)” o’ a ebb; d) grefster, grepster (gräipster), gremster, grimster (grimsi); for these latter forms see further under grefster, sb. Prop. a digging up, “ebb by which the foreshore is, as it were, dug up.” *graftar- or *graptar-(fjara). “graftar, graptar”: gen. of O.N. grǫftr, grǫptr, m., a digging. In Shetl. “ft, pt” has partly been assimilated to “tt”. From forms such as “graƫ-, grȯƫ-”, with

softened t, the forms “grait-, grȯit-” have later been developed. The second part of the compd. (O.N. fjara, f., ebb) has been dropped. Forms such as grotti, grottek, groitek (and graitek?), as well as the forms given under d (grefster, etc.), might, however, just as well be derived from an uncompounded “grǫftr, grǫptr (greftr, greptr).”

grav [grāv], sb., scrapings, esp. a) objects loosened from the sea-bottom (by heavy swell); naet’in’ [nothing] but g. aff o’ de (sea-) boddom [‘bottom’] (Yⁿ.). b) objects (fragments of shell, etc.) from the stomach of cuttle-fish. c) objects floating on or under the surface of the water, driven together by the beat of waves shorewards into more or less dense masses (small molluscs; spawn; seaweed; flotsam, etc.), esp. of such floating objects serving as food for fishes and birds; de g. is aggin (is driving) on upo de shore; cf. agg, sb. 2. d) refuse. — Prop. something dug up, rooted or stirred up. Cf. No. grav, n., a digging; scraping together.

grav [grāv], vb., 1) to dig up; break up, esp. of the sea during heavy swell: to break very heavily and deeply with ground-swell; de sea is gravin like “ba-brak” (ground-swell): Y.; to ‘root up’ the sand or mud from the sea-bottom (of agitated sea); de sea is gravin aff o’ de boddom (Y.). 2) to bury; we ha’e been gravin so and so (sicc and sicc a body), we have been attending the funeral of so-and-so; U. In both senses now more commonly anglicised: “grave” [grēv, grē^əv]; to g. a body; he is gravin’ to de very boddom (of very heavy swell). — O.N. grafa, vb., a) to dig up; b) to bury. For grav 1 cf. Fær. grava, vb., in sense of to raise up or to agitate the sea violently