23. SOME WORDS THAT ARE NOT SCANDINAVIAN LOANWORDS.
We have spoken in §§10, 13, 20 and 22, of a number of words that are to be considered regular Sco. developments of O.E. words. The following words have also generally been derived from the Scand., but must be considered native, or from sources other than Norse:
BLAIT, _adj._ backward, must be traced to O.E. _blēat_, rather than to O.N. _blout_. O.N. _ou_, _au_ is always _ou_ or _oi_ in Sco.
BREID, _sb._ breadth, not Norse _bræidde_ nor Dan. _bredde_, but native Eng.
CUMMER, _sb._ misery, wail, seems uncertain. It corresponds in form and usage exactly to Norse _kummer_, but _mb_ > _mm_ is natural and occurs elsewhere in Sco., cp. _slummer_, "slumber," which need not be derived from Norse _slummer_ or any L.G. word. The usage of the word is peculiarly Scand.
DEAD, _sb._ death. Not Dan.-Norse _död_, but English "death."
FALD, _vb._ to fall. Skeat says the _d_ is due to Scand. influence, but cp. _boldin_ from _bolna_ (older _bolgna_). So _d_ after _l_ in _fald_ may be genuine. Besides the O.N. word is _falla_, later Dan. _falde_.
FERDE, ordinal of four, not Norse _fjerde_. See §19.
FLATLYNGIS, _adv._ flatly, headlong, looks very much like Norse _flatlengs_ and corresponds perfectly in meaning. The Norse word is, however, a late formation, apparently, and _-lyngs_ is a very common adverbial ending in Sco.
HAP, _vb._ to cover up, to wrap up, cannot come from O. Sw. _hypia_, as _y_ could not become _a_.
LEDDER, _sb._ leather. Not from Dan. _leder_, for cp. §19; besides the vowel in the Dan. word is long.
MISTER, _sb._ and _vb._ need, from O. Fr. _mestier_, not from O.N. _miste_, which always means "to lose," as it does in the modern diall. The O. Fr. _mestier_ meant "office, trade," and sometimes "need." The last is the meaning of the modern _métier_ in the dialects of Normandy. Both meanings exist in Northern English.
OUKE, _sb._ week. In all probability from O.E. _wucu_ by loss of initial _w_ before _u_. The Dan. _uge_ does not quite correspond. The O.N. _vika_ even less. The Danish _uge_ simply shows similar dropping of _w_ (_v_) as the Sco. word.
RIGBANE, _sb._ backbone. Both elements are Eng. The compound finds a parallel in Norse _rygbæin_.