Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/511

prob. due to influence of the word “jard” (corn-yard, enclosure where the corn is stacked). A parallel form jerdfast, jirdfast [jerfast·], is reported from Fe. — *jarðfesta, vb., prop. “to earthfasten”, to weight down to the ground. For the form fast for *fest see fasti, vb. — The adjective (earthfast, fixed in the ground) is now, by anglicising, commonly “eart’-fast” (a e.-f. sten).

jardpon [jar·pōn·, -pō^ən·, jarpō^ən·; jär-], vb., in the phrase “to j. a ruiff [røf· = roof], a hus”, to thatch a house with two layers of green turf, instead of, as usual, with one layer only, and an upper layer of straw. Fe. Is now called “to double-pon [-pōn, -pō^ən]”, at least outside Fe. — Prob. an original *jarð-spæna, vb., “to earth-thatch”, to thatch with green turf (only). Shetl. pon, sb., a piece of green turffor thatching, prob. from O.N. spánn, m., a shingle for thatching. The original i-mutation in the second part of the compd. has been dropped in accordance with the phonetic peculiarities in Shetl. Norn. For dropping of initial s before a consonant, see under pon, sb. — The word earth is found in the form jerd, jird [jərd], in the compd. jerdiswidl (jirdiswidl); q.v.

jarf [ja‘rf] and jarfa¹ [ja‘rfa], sb., 1) broken, swampy ground, boggy soil; swamp, (deep) bog; esp. hollow ground with water underneath. N.I. (jarf). Nm. (jarf, j.-holes). 2) poor, tough (damp) ground, difficult to prepare, choked with old, decayed grass-roots and rootlets. Wests. (jarf and jarfa). Ork. jarfa (“yarfa, yarpha”), sb., a) poor, peaty soil full of grass-rots and rootlets; b) peaty soil, mixed with clay or sand. O.N. jǫrfi, m., (sand, gravel) sand-bank or gravel-bank; No. jarve, m. (R.), a) = jørve, m., bank; earthen

mound; heap of gravel; b) hard, gravelly or stony subsoil; Icel. jörfi, m., a) mud; dirt (B.H.); b) mould; clay; c) brink, edge (E.J.).

jarfa², sb., see “jart-fa’”.

jarfi, jarf-y [ja‘rfi], adj., applied to ground: a) swampy, boggy; b) poor, tough (damp), choked with old, decayed grass-roots and rootlets; j. grund. Reported esp. from Wests. in sense b. See jarf (jarfa), sb.

jarg [jarg], sb., continuous, eager talk with tiresome repetitions; aggressive talk; angry argumentation; criticism and fault-finding. See the foll. word.

jarg [jarg], vb., to talk continually and eagerly, repeating the same thing in a tiresome way; to talk or wrangle about something in an aggressive, angry manner; to argue and criticise angrily. Icel. jarga, vb., to repeat in a tedious manner, to tattle. Sw. dial. jarg(a), vb., to chew something tough, and “järg(a), järk(a)”, vb., to grumble; to raise objections· See njarg and sjarg, vbs.

jark [ja‘rk], jarki [ja‘rki], jarkin [ja‘rkin, ja‘rkɩn], sb., 1) edge of the sole of the foot (the widest part); also the instep; de j. o’ de foot. 2) the edge of the palm of the hand, esp. that along the forefinger and the thumb; occas. also the muscle at the root of the thumb; de j. o’ de hand. 3) side-stitch of a shoe, esp. in pl.: jarkins. L.Sc. yerkin. 4) handful (prop. what one can grip with one’s hand), jarki(n); “Oh, Lord, we’re a’ [‘all’] but a jarkin o’ sinners”. — O.N. jarki, m., (outside edge of) the sole of the foot. No. jark(e), m., a) edge of the sole of the foot, also the sole at the root of the toes, and likewise applied to the corresponding part of boots and shoes; b) edge of the palm of the hand, esp. the muscle at the root of the thumb.

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