Page:An Etymological Dictionary of the Norn Language in Shetland Part I.pdf/535

saw) k.-c.”, to cut (saw) diagonally. N.I. (U.). kepen [kepən]-corner: Fe. The first part of the compd. is prob. the same word as M.L.G. keper, Da. kipper, n., cloth woven diagonally, twill, and cognate with O.N. keifr, adj., askew.

kepp, sb., see kepper, sb.

kepp [kⁱæp, ᶄɛp, ᶄæp], vb., to try one’s strength or skill in a competition, to vie with someone; to strive to be chief or first, e.g. in a race. Conn. In the same senses O.N. keppa, keppask, vb. (from “kapp”, n., eagerness, competition). More common in Shetl. than kepp is the form kemp [kɛ‘mp, kæ‘mp (ᶄɛ‘mp, ᶄæ‘mp)], which is most prob. borrowed from L.Sc. (kemp, vb.), though a) “kampast” is found in No. like “kjeppast”, and b) “kampas, kämpas” in Sw. dial. like “käppas”. — In the sense of to hinder, stop (someone or something), kepp, on the other hand, is L.Sc. kep, vb.

kepper [kɛpər, kⁱɛpær, ᶄɛpər (ᶄæpər)], sb., a short stick, billet of wood put into a horse's mouth to prevent it from eating corn, hay, potatoes, etc. The pronunc. “kⁱɛpær” is noted down in Conn. Also kibber [kɩbər]: Ti.? -er is a fossilized nominative ending, kepp, on the other hand, is found in the compd. berkikepp; q.v. O.N. keppr, m., a cudgel; club. — As a place-name, name of a hill, a form kepp [kɛp, kæp] is found in Shetl.; “de Kepp o’ Nunsdale”, a hill by Helliness, C. “de Kebb [kɛb]”, name of a conical-shaped hill near Kebbister, Ti., is prob. the same word (name) with change of pp to bb. As the name of a hill the word arises rom a root-meaning: knot; cf. Icel. keppr, m., a) mallet, cudgel; b) knot.

kepper [kɛpər (kⁱɛpær), ᶄɛpər, (ᶄæpər)], vb., in the expr. “to k. a horse”, to put a billet of wood, a kepper, into a horse’s mouth to prevent it

from eating corn, hay, potatoes, etc. See the preceding substantive, from which the verbal form (with the fossilized nominative sign -er of the substantive, preserved) is a later derivative. There may poss. have been an earlier form, *kepp, vb., from an original *keppa.

†kepperwari, sb., see kipperwari.

keptet [kɛptət, ᶄɛptət, kæptət] and kebdet [kɛbdət (ᶄɛbdət), kæbdət], adj., having jaws or mouth of a certain shape, in compds. such as miskeptet, skevkeptet; q.v. Deriv. of O.N. keptr, kjaptr, m., jaw; mouth. — As a place-name, name of some cultivated patches of ground, is found “de Keptatongs [kɛp··tatɔŋs·, -kɛp··ti-]” (Seter, N.Roe), originally “*kepta (kjapta)-tungur”, prob. named from their outline.

ker [kēr], properly adj., dear, but now only as an exclamation in a tender, caressing tone: Oh, kere [kērə] ker! (Wests.). In address to children: ker for dis [‘this’] ting! ker cam’ I till! (Sa.): my treasure! my dear one! — With the suffixed, grafted possessive pronoun my, ker, sb. (adj.), is found in keremi [kē··rəmi·], my dear one! my treasure! (Wests.); oh keremi! what is happened? (Fo.). — O.N. kærr, adj., dear. With keremi cf. No. kjær, m., and kjæra, f., a dear soul, in exprs. such as: “kjæren min” and “kjæra mi”, in address: my dear! — korri [kȯri], q.v., is another form developed from “kærr”, still partly used as a pure adjective. — ker may sometimes be confused with Eng. “care”, in exclamations, as “oh, care and dule”! woe is me! woe worth the day!

kerfi [kⁱæ‘rfi], sb., a bunch, bundle (of rushes). Conn. See further kervi, kirvi, sb.

kerlin [kērlɩn, kē^ərlɩn] and kerl [kē^ərl], sb., properly a crone, but now