Germanic Lexicon Project Search results Displaying 1 - 10 out of 469 entries.

Home Texts Search Messages Volunteer About Search Help

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0001, entry 1 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

A. is the first letter in all the alphabets of Phenician extraction. The Runic alphabet, being confused and arbitrary, makes the sole exception to this rule. A. PRONUNCIATION: it is either simple (a) or diphthongal (á). The simple a is pronounced long or short; when long it is sounded like the long Italian a as in padre, or as in Engl. father; when short, like the short Italian a as in cambio, or as in Engl. marry. The á -- though in grammars commonly called a long vowel -- is phonetically diphthongal (a + u), and sounds like Engl. ou or ow: Engl. thou and Icel. þá, now and ná, have almost the same sound. Again a and á have, like all other vowels, diph- thongs or simple, a deep, full chest-sound if followed by a single consonant, or by more than one weak consonant (a liquid followed by a media). They sound short if followed by two or more strong consonants (a double mute or liquid): thus the a and á sound long in tál, sermo; sát, sedebat; mán, mancipium; tál, dolus; ár, remits; sát, sessio, hátr, odium; hárðr, durus; káldr, frigidus; vándr, difficilis; támdr, domitus, etc. But short in hátt, pileum; hátt, modum; mánn, bominem; bánn, interdictum; háll, lubricus; kált, frigidum; rámt, acidum; hárt, durum; vánt, assuetum, etc.; the consonants shortening the sound of the preceding vowel. The a is also short in all endings, verbal or nominal, tala, talar, talaða, dixi; talast, dicitur; vaka, vigilia; fagran, pulchrum, etc. Etymologically a distinction must be made between the primitive á, as in sátu (sedebant), átu (edebant), gátu (poterant), and the á produced by suppressing consonants; either nasals, as in á, ást, áss, báss, gás, = an, anst, ans, bans, gans; or gutturals, h, g, k, as in á (aqua), sá (videbat), lá (jacebat), má (debet), nátt (nox), dráttr (tractus), and a great many others; or labials, v, f, as in á = af, áir = afr, hár but háfan; or dentals, as in nál (acus) [Goth. nepla, Engl. needle], vál (ambitus, mendicitas) [A. S. vädl], etc. In very early times there was no doubt an audible distinction between these two kinds of á, which however is not observed even by the earliest poets, those of the 10th century. The marking of the diphthongal vowels with an acute accent is due to the Icelandic philologist Thorodd (circa 1080-1140), and was probably an imitation of Anglo-Saxon. The circumflex, applied by Jacob Grimm, is unknown to Icel. authors of whatever age. Thorodd, in his treatise on the vowels (Skálda, pp. 160 sqq.), distinguishes between three kinds of vowels, viz. short, long (i. e. diphthongal), and nasal. The long ones he proposes to mark with an acute (); the nasals by a dot above the line (•). The vowels of his alphabet are thirty-six in number. According to his rule we should have to write, af (ex), át (esus), ä (in). No doubt the a was also nasal in the verbs and the weak nouns, komå (= koman), augä (gen.); and also when followed by an n, e. g. vänr (assuefactus). The distinctive marking of the nasals never came into practice, and their proper sound also disappeared; neither is this distinction observed by the poets in their rhymes. The marking of the diphthongal vowels -- either the primitive vowels or those formed by agglutination -- by an acute accent, according to the rule of Thorodd, is indeed used in a very few old Icel. parchment fragments of the 12th century. The only MS. of any considerable length which strictly observes this distinction is the Ann. Reg. Ísl. 2087. 4b. Royal Libr. Copenhagen, written in Icel. at the end of the 13th century. In the great bulk of MSS. both kinds of vowels are treated alike, as in Latin. About the middle of the 14th century the doubling of vowels, especially that of aa () = á, came into use, and was employed through more than three centuries, until about 1770 the Icelanders resumed the spelling of Thorodd, marking diphthongal vowels by an acute accent, but following the rules of modern pronunciation. The diphthong au -- in Norse freq. spelt ou -- has at present in Icel. a peculiar sound, answering to äu or eu in German, and nearly to Engl. oi. The Norse pronunciation is different and perhaps more genuine. B. CHANGES. I. a changes into æ, á into Æ: this change -- a part of a more general transformation, by Grimm termed umlaut, 'vowel-change' -- is common to all the Teutonic idioms, except the Gothic (v. letter E and Æ). II. a changes into ö (), á into : this transformation is peculiar to the Scandinavian branch, esp. the Icelandic idiom, where it is carried on to the fullest extent -- in old Swedish and Danish its use was scanty and limited. It takes place, 1. in monosyllabic nouns with a for their radical vowel, . feminines, öld, periodus; önd, anima; örk, arca; för, iter; höll, aula; hönd, manus; sök, causa, etc. . adjectives in fem. sing, and in neut. pl., öll, tota; fögr, pulchra; hörð, dura; hölt, clauda; sönn, vera; from allr, etc. . in plur. neut., bönd, vincula; börn, GREEK; lönd, terrae; from band, etc. . in singular masculines with a suppressed u in the root, hjörtr, cervus; fjörðr, sinus; björn, ursus; örn, aquila, etc. 2. in dissyllables a radical a, when followed by a final u (-u, -ur, -um, etc.), in Icel. constantly changes into ö, -- öllum, cunctis; mönnum, hominibus; köllum, vocamus; vökum, vigiliis and vigilamus; vökur, vigiliae, etc. Danes and Swedes here retained the a; so did a great part of Norway. The change only prevailed in the west of Norway and the whole of Iceland. Some Norse MSS. therefore con- stantly keep a in those cases, e. g. Cd. Ups. De la Gard. 8 (Ed. C. R. Unger, 1849), which spells allum, cunctis; hafuð, caput; jafur, rex; andverðr, adversus; afund, invidia, etc. (v. Pref. viii.) Other Norse MSS. spell a and ö promiscuously; allum or öllum, kallum or köllum. In Icel. this change prevailed about the year 1000. Even at the end of the loth century we still frequently meet with rhymes such as barð -- jarðu, þang -- langu, etc. 3. a in inflexions, in penultimate syllables, if followed by u, changes into u (or ö); thus keisurum, caesaribus; vitrurum, sapienti- oribus; hörðurum, durioribus; hörðustum, durissimis: pret. pl., sköpuðu, creabant; töluðu, dicebant; orrustu, pugnam. In part. pass. fem. sing, and neut. pl., sköpuð, creata; töluð, dicta; töpuð, perdi/ a. Neut. pl. in words, as sumur, aestates; heruð, pagi. This change is peculiar to Iceland, and is altogether strange to Norse MSS., where we constantly find such forms as ætlaðu, putabant; gnagaðu, mordebant; aukaðu, augebant; skapað, creata; kallað, dicta; skaparum, tapaðum, ágætastum, harðarum, skín- andum; kunnastu, artem, etc. This difference, as it frequently oc- curred at early times, soon gave the Icel. idiom a peculiar and strange sound, -- amarunt would, in Icelandic, be ömurunt. Norse phrases -- as með bænum ok fastu (fostu) hafðu (höfðu) með sér vaxljós, ok dýrkaðu (dýrkuðu) þa hælgu hátíð með fastu (föstu) ok vaktu (vöktu) þar um nóttina með margum (mörgum) aðrum (öðrum) vanfærum mannum (monnum), O. H. L. 87 -- sound uncouth and strange to Icel. ears; and so no doubt did the Icel. vowel transformations to Norse ears. 4. endings in -an, -all, e. g. feminines in -an, as hugsan, ætlan, iðran, frequently change into -un, -- hugsun, ætlun, iðrun, and are now always used so: gamall, vetus, f. gömul; einsamall, solus, f. ein- sömul. In modern Norse, gomol, eismol (Ivar Aasen); atall, atrox; ötull, strenuus; svikall, perfidus, and svikull; þrifnaðr, mundities, and þrifnuðr, etc. 5. in the cases correlative to II. 1, 2, the á in its turn changes into a vowel, by Thorodd marked ; this vowel change seems to have been settled about the beginning of the 11th century, and prevailed in Iceland during the 12th, being constantly employed in MSS. of that time; about the end of that century, however, and the beginning of the next, it fell off, and at last became extinct. Its phonetical value, therefore, cannot now be precisely stated: it no doubt had an interme- diate sound between á and ó, such as ö (oo) has between a and o. Thorodd proposed to mark the short 'umlaut' ö by ; and the vowel change of á by (in the MSS. however commonly written ). INSTANCES: fcm., , amnis; st, amor; l, funis; r, remits; lg, lignum; skr, libel- lus; stt, pax; sl, anima; nl, acus; vn, spes: masc., httr, modus; þrðr, fîlum; þttr, funis; mttr, vis; ss, deus; rr, nuntius: neut. pl., sr, vulnera; tr, GREEK; ml, dicta; rð, consilia; vr, vera: adj. fem, and neut., koát, læta; f, pauca; sm, parva; h, alta; fm, paucis; hm, altis: verbs, s, videbant (but sá, videbat); gtu, capie- bant; tu, edebant (but at, edebat), etc.: v. Frump. 26-28: e. g. sár (vulnus) veitti maðr mer eitt (unum), sr mörg (multa vulnera) veitta ek hánum, Skálda (Thorodd), 162; l (= öl, cerevisia) er drykkr, l er band (vinculum), id. 163; tungan er málinu vn (= vön, assuefacta), en at tönnunum er bitsins vn (morsils exspectatio), id.: frequently in the Grágás, lýsa sár sitt (vulnus) eðr sr (vulnera) ef fleiri eru, Kb. i. 151; sr en minni (vulnera leviora), 170; en meire sr (graviora), 174; síðan es sr eða ben voru lýst, 175; engi sr (nulla vulnera), sr, and rð, 176, 177; ml, ii. 51; vr, 158,

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0002, entry 1 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

C. OTHER CHANGES :-- in modern Icel. the old syllable va has changed into vo; vó of the 14th century being an intermediate form: thus von, spes; votr, madidus; vor, ver; vorr, noster; voði, periculum; koma, adventus; voru, erant, etc.: so also the á in the dat. hánum, illi, now honum, which is also employed in the editions of old writings; kómu = kvámu = kvómu, veniebant, etc. In Norway a was often changed into æ in the pronominal and adverbial forms; as hæna, illam; þær, þænn, þæt, ibi, ilium, illud; hence originate the mod. Dan. hende, der, den, det; in some Norse dialects even still dar, dat. The short a in endings in mod. Dan. changed into e (æ), e. g. komme, uge, talede, Icel. koma, vika; whereas the Swedes still preserve the simple a, which makes their language more euphonious than the mod. Dan. In most districts of Icel. an a before ng, nk, has changed into á, thus langr (longus), strangr (durus), krankr (aegrotus) are spelt lángr, kránkr, etc. In the west of Iceland however we still say langr, strangr, etc., which is the pure old form. The a becomes long when followed by lf, lm, lp, thus álfr, genius; álpt, cygnus; hálfr, dimidius; kálfr, vitulus; sjálfr, ipse; this is very old: the fem. hlf, dimidia, which occurs in the 12th century, points to an á, not a; já = ja in hjálpa, skjálfa, etc. The lengthening before lm is later, -- álmr, ulmus; hálmr, calamus; sálmr, psalmus; hjálmr, ga- lea; málmr, metallum, etc. In all these cases the á is not etymological. Also before ln in the plur. of alin, álnar not alnar: lk, alka = alka, alca; bálkr = balkr; fálki = falki, falco: háls = hals; frjáls = frjals; járn = jarn; skáld = skald; v. those words: aarni, dat. of arinn, v. that word: the proper name Árni, properly Arni: abbati, abbas, ábóti: Adám, on the contrary, changed into Adam; Máría into Maria, Mary. The old spell- ing is still kept in máriatla, motacilla pectore albo, etc. In the 1st pers. pret. indic., and in the pres. and pret. conj. we have a changed into i, e. g. talaða to talaði, locutus sum; sagða, dixi, vilda, volui, hafða, habui, to sagði, vildi, hafði: in the 1st pers. pres. and pret. conj., hefða, haberem, hafa, habeam, to hefði, hafi. These forms occur as early as the begin- ning of the 13th century (e. g. in the Hulda, Cd. A. M. 66, fol. = Fms. vi. and vii). In the south of Iceland however (Reykjavik, the Árnes and Gullbringusýsla) the old forms are still frequently heard in bisyllabic preterites, esp. ek vilda, sagða, hafða, and are also employed in writing by natives of those districts. D. a answers to Goth, a; A. S. ea (a, ä); allr, totus; Goth, alls; A. S. eall: the primitive á to Goth, ê, sátu, Goth, sêtun, sedebant; gráta, grétun, lacrymari; láta, lêtan; vápn, vêpn, arma; vagr, vêgs, fluctus. The Icel. secondary á, on the contrary, must in the kindred Teutonic idioms be sought for under a vowel plus a consonant, such as an, ah, or the like. A. S. æ commonly answers to Icel. á, láta, A. S. lætan; dáð, A. S. dæð; þráðr, A. S. þræð, Engl. thread; mál (GREEK), A. S. mœl, cp. Engl. meal. The A. S. (1, on the contrary, etyrnologically answers to Icel. ei. The diphthong au answers to Goth. au, A. S. eá, -- rauðr, Goth. rauds, A. S. reað, Engl. red. In English the a seems at very early times to have assumed its present ambiguous sound; this we may infer from A. S. words introduced into Icelandic. The river Thames in Icel. is spelt, as it is still pronounced in England, as Tems, which form occurs in a poem of the year 1016. E. The Runic character for a was in the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon Runes (so termed by P. A. Munch) RUNE [A. S. RUNE]; so in the Golden horn, on the stone in Thune in Norway (Ed. by P. A. Munch, 1857), and in the Bracteats. The Saxons called it os = áss, deus. In the Runes it was the fourth letter in the first group (fuþork). The Scandi- navians in their Runes used this character for o, and called it óss, ostium, probably misled by the A. S. pronunciation of the homely word áss. This character, however, occurs only a few times in the common Runes, which in its stead used the A. S. Rune RUNE, gér, annona, which is the fourth Rune in the second group (hnias, A. S. hnijs), called according to the northern pronunciation ár, annona: this letter, RUNE or RUNE has the form, as well as the name and place, of the A. S. RUNE, RUNE.

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0005, entry 1 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

with, Eg. 364; hlaða mörg skip af korni, load many ships with corn, Fms. xi. 8; klyfja tvá hesta af mat, Nj. 74; var vágrinn skipaðr af herskipum, the bay was covered with war ships, 124; fylla ker af glóðum, fill it with embers, Stj. 319; fylla heiminn af sínu kyni, to fill the world with his offspring, Ver. 3. III. denoting the substance of which a thing is made, of; used indifferently with ór, though ór be more frequent; þeir gerðu af honum jörðina, af blóði hans sæinn ok vötnin, of the creation of the world from the corpse of the giant Ymir; the poem Gm. 40, 41, constantly uses ór in this sense, just as in modern Icelandic, Edda 5; svá skildu þeir, at allir hlutir væri smíðaðir af nokkru efni, 147 (pref.); húsit var gert af timbrstokkum, built of trunks of timber, Eg. 233; hjöhin vóru af gulli, of gold, golden, Fms. i. 17; af osti, of cheese, but in the verse 1. c. ór osti, Fms. vi. 253; línklæði af lérepti, linen, Sks. 287. 2. metaph. in the phrases, göra e-t af e-ti (to dispose of), verða af (become of), hvat hefir þú gört af Gunnari, what hast thou done with Gunnar? Njarð. 376; hvat af motrinuni er orðit, what has become of it? of a lost thing, Ld. 208; hverfr Óspakr á burt, svá eigi vita menn hvat af honum er orðit, what has become of him? Band. 5. IV. de- noting parentage, descent, origin, domicile, abode: 1. parentage, of, from, used indifferently with frá; ok eru af þeim komnir Gilsbekkingar, descend from them, but a little below -- frá honum eru konmir Sturlungar, Eb. 338, cp. afkvæmi; af ætt Hörðakára, Fms. i. 287; kominn af Troj- umönnum, xi. 416; af Ása-ætt (Kb. wrongly at), Edda I. . metaph., vera af Guði (theol.), of God, = righteous, 686 B. 9; illr ávöxtr af íllri rót, Fms. ii. 48; Asia er kölluð af nafni nokkurar konu, derives her name from, Stj. 67; af honum er bragr kallaðr skáldskapr, called after his name, Edda 17. 2. of domicile; af danskri tungu, of Danish or Scandi- navian origin, speaking the Danish tongue, Grág. ii. 73; hvaðan af löndum, whence, native of what country? Ísl. . especially denoting a man's abode, and answering to á and í, the name of the farm (or country) being added to proper names, (as in Scotland,) to distinguish persons of the same name; Hallr af Síðu, Nj. 189; Erlingr af Straumey, 273; Ástríðr af Djúpárbakka, 39; Gunnarr af Hlíðarenda (more usual frá); þorir haklangr konungr af Ögðum, king of Agdir, Eg. 35, etc.; cp. ór and frá. V. denoting a person with whom an act, feeling, etc. originates, for the most part with a periphrastic passive: 1. by, the Old Engl. of; as, ek em sendr hingað af Starkaði ok sonum hans, sent hither by, Nj. 94; inna e-t af hendi, to perform, 257; þó at alþýða væri skírð af kennimönnum, baptized of, Fms. ii. 158; meira virðr af mönnum, higher esteemed, Ld. 158; ástsæll af landsmönnum, beloved, íb. 16; vinsæll af mönnum, Nj. 102; í allgóðu yfirlæti af þeim feðgum, hospitably treated by them, Eg. 170; var þá nokkut drukkið af alþjóð, there was somewhat hard drinking of the people, Sturl. iii. 229; mun þat ekki upp tekið af þeim sükudólgum mínum, they will not clutch at that, Nj. 257; ef svá væri í hendr þér búit af mér, if í had so made everything ready to thy hands, Ld. 130; þá varð fárætt um af föður hans, his father said little about it, Fms. ii. 154. 2. it is now also sometimes used as a periphrase of a nom., e. g. ritað, þýtt af e-m, written, translated, edited by, but such phrases scarcely occur in old writers. VI. denoting cause, ground, reason: 1. origin- ating from, on account of, by reason of; af frændsemis sökum, for kinship's sake, Grág. ii. 72; ómáli af áverkum, speechless from wounds, 27; af manna völdum, by violence, not by natural accident, of a crime, Nj. 76; af fortölum Halls, through his pleading, 255; af ástsæld hans ok af tölum þeirra Sæmundar, by his popularity and the eloquence of S., Íb. 16; af ráðum Haralds konungs, by his contriving, Landn. 157; úbygðr af frosti ok kulda, because of frost and cold, Hkr. i. 5. . adverbially, af því, therefore, Nj. 78; af hví, why? 686 B. 9; þá verðr bóndi heiðinn af barni sínu, viz. if he does not cause his child to be christened, K. þ. K. 20. 2. denoting instrumentality, by means of; af sinu fé, by one's own means, Grág. i. 293; framfæra e-n af verkum sinum, by means of one's own labour, K. þ. K. 42; draga saman auð af sökum, ok vælum ok kaupum, make money by, 623. I; af sínum kostnaði, at hi s own expense, Hkr. i. 217. . absol., hún fellir á mik dropa svá heita at ek brenn af öll, Ld. 328; hann fékk af hina mestu sæmd, derived great honotur from it, Nj. 88; elli sótti á hendr honum svá at hann lagðist í rekkjn af, he grew bedridden from age, Ld. 54; komast undan af hlaupi, escape by running, Fms. viii. 58; spinna garn af rokki, spin off a wheel (now, spinna á rokk), from a notion of instrumentality, or because of the thread being spun out (?), Eb. 92. 3. denoting proceeding, originating from; lýsti af höndum hennar, her hands spread beams of light, Edda 22; allir heimar lýstust (were illuminated) af henni, id.; en er lýsti af degi, when the day broke forth, Fms. ii. 16; lítt var lýst af degi, the day was just beginning to break, Ld. 46; þá tók at myrkja af nótt, the 'mirk-time' of night began to set in, Eg. 230; tók þá brátt at myrkva af nótt, the night grew dark, Hkr. ii. 230. 4. metaph., standa, leiða, hljótast af, to be caused by, result from; opt hlýtst íllt af kvenna hjali, great mischief is wrought by women's gossip (a proverb), Gísl. 15, 98; at af þeim mundi mikit mein ok úhapp standa, be caused by, Edda 18; kenna kulda af ráðum e-s, to feel sore from, Eb. 42; þó mun her hljótast af margs manns bani, Nj, 90. 5. in adverbial phrases, denoting state of mind; af mikilli æði, in fury, Nj. 116; af móð, in great emotion, Fms. xi. 221; af áhyggju, with concern, i. 186; af létta, frankly, iii. 91; af viti, collectedly, Grág. ii. 27; af heilu, sincerely, Eg. 46; áf fári, in rage; af æðru, timidly, Nj. (in a verse); af setning, com- posedly, in tune, Fms. iii. 187; af mikilli frægð, gallantly, Fas. i. 261; af öllu afli, with all might, Grág. ii. 41; af riki, violently, Fbr. (in a verse); af trúnaði, confidently, Grág. i. 400. VII. denoting regard to, of, concerning, in respect of, as regards: 1. with verbs, denoting to tell of, be informed, inquire about, Lat. de; Dioscorides segir af grasi því, speaks of, 655 xxx. 5; er menu spurðu af landinu, inquired about it, Landn. 30; halda njósn af e-u, Nj. 104; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, Eg. 546, Band. 8. . absol., hann mun spyrja, hvárt þér sé nokkut af kunnigt hversu for með okkr, whether you know anything about, how, Nj. 33; halda skóla af, to hold a school in a science, 656 A. i. 19 (sounds like a Latinism); en ek gerða þik sera mestan mann af öllu, in respect of all, that you should get all the honour of it, Nj. 78. 2. with adjectives such as mildr, illr, góðrafe-u, denoting disposition or character in respect to; alira manna mildastr af fo, very liberal, often-banded, Fms. vii. 197; mildr af gulli, i. 33; góðr af griðum, merciful, Al. 33; íllr af mat en mildr af gulli, Fms. i. 53; fastr af drykk, close, stingy in regard to, Sturl. ii. 125; gat þess Hildigunnr at þú mundir góðr af hestinum, that you would be good about the horse, Nj. 90, cp. auðigr at, v. at, which corresponds to the above phrases; cp. also the phrase af sér above, p. 4, col. I, ll. 50 sqq. VIII. periphrasis of a genitive (rare); provincialis af öllum Predikaraklaustrum, Fms. x. 76; vera af hinum mesta fjandskap, to breathe deep hatred to, be on bad terms with, ix. 220; af hendi, af hálfu e-s, on one's behalf, v. those words. IX. in adverbial phrases; as, af launungu, secretly; at" hljóði, silently; v. those words. . also used absolutely with a verb, almost adverbially, nearly in the signification off, away; hann bað þá róa af fjörðinn, pass the firth swiftly by rowing, row the firth off, Fms. ix. 502; var pá af farit þat seni skerjóttast var, was past, sailed past, Ld. 142; ok er þeir höfðu af fjórðung, past one fourth of the way, Dropl. 10: skína af, to clear up, of the skv, Eb. 152; hence in common language, skína af sér, when the sun breaks forth: sofa af nóttina, to sleep it away, Fms. ii. 98; leið af nóttin, the night past away, Nj. 53; dvelja af stundir, to kill the time, Band. 8; drepa af, to kill; láta af, to slaughter, kill off; . in exclamations; af tjöldin, off with the awnings, Bs. i. 420, Fins, ix. 49. . in the phrases, þar af, thence; hér af, hence, Fms. ii. 102; af fram, straight on, Nj. 144; now, á fram, on, advance. X. it often refers to a whole sentence or to an adverb, not only like other prepp. to hér, hvar, þar, but also re- dundantly to héðan, ru'-ðan, þaðan, whence, hence, thence. 2. the preposition may sometimes be repeated, once elliptically or adverbially, and once properly, e. g. en er af var borit at borðinu, the cloth was taken off from the table, Nj. 176; Guð þerrir af (off, away) hvert tár af (from) augum heilagra manna, God wipes off every tear from the eyes of his saints, 655 xx. vii. 17; skal þó fyrst bætr af lúka af fé vegaiula, pay off, from, Gþl. 160, the last af may be omitted -- var þá af borið borðinu -- and the prep. thus be separated from its case, or it may refer to some of the indecl. relatives er or sem, the prep. hvar, hér, þar being placed behind them without a case, and referring to the preceding relative, e. g. oss er þar mikit af sagt auð þeim, we have been told much about these riches, Band. 24; er þat skjótast þar af at segja, in short, shortly. Eg. 546; þaðan af veit ek, thence í infer, know, Fms. i. 97. XI. it is moreover connected with a great many verbs besides those mentioned above, e. g. bera af, to excel, whence afbragð, afbrigði; draga af, to detract, deduct, hence afdráttr; veita ekki af, to be hard with; ganga at, to be left, hence afgangr; standast af um e-t, to stand, how matters stand; sem af tekr, at a furious rate; vita af, to be conscious, know about (vide VII). D. As a prefix to compounds distinction is to be made be- tween: I. af privativum, denoting diminution, want, deduction, loss, separation, negation of, etc., answering indifferently to Lat. ab-, de-, ex-, dis-, and rarely to re- and se-, v. the following COMPDS, such as segja, dicere, but afsegja, negare; rækja, colere, but afrækja, negligere; aflaga, contra legem; skapligr, normalis, afskapligr, deformis; afvik, recessus; afhús, afhellir, afdalr, etc. II. af intensivum, ety- mologically different, and akin to of, afr-, e. g. afdrykkja = ofdrykkja, inebrietas; afbrýði, jealously; afbendi, tenesmus; afglapi, vir fatuus, etc. etc. Both the privative and the intensive af may be con- tracted into á, esp. before a labial f, m, v, e. g. á fram = af fram; ábrýði = afbrýði; ávöxtr = afvöxtr; áburðr = afburðr; ávíta = afvíta (?). In some cases dubious. With extenuated and changed vowel; auvirðiligr or övirðiligr, depreciated, = afv- etc., v. those

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0005, entry 3 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

afar- and avar- [cp. Ulf. afar = GREEK, GREEK; Germ, aber, esp. in com- pounds: v. Grimm Gr. ii. 709], only used as a prefix in compounds, very much, very. Now often pronounced æfar, which form occurs esp. in MSS. of the 14th and I5th centuries, e. g. Fms. i. 150, xi. 249, Ísl. ii. 131; cp. also æfr, adj. iracundus. COMPDS: afar-auðigr, adj. very rich, Lex. Poët.

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0005, entry 4 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

afar-breiðr, adj. very broad, Edda 10. afar-fagr, adj. very fair, Edda (Ub.) 360. afar-hreinn, adj. very clean, Lex. Poët, afar-illa, adv. very

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0006, entry 1 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

badly, Hkr. i. 226. afar-kaup, n. hard bargain, Sturl, (in a verse). afar-kostir, m. pl. hard condition, Eg. 14, 353, Hkr. i. 144, Ld. 222. afarkosta-laust, n. adj. on fair terms, Jb. 361, Stud. ii. 79. afar- ligr, adj. immense, huge, Nj. 183, v. l. afar-lítill, adj. very small, Merl. 2. 46. afar-menni, n. an overpowering man, Orkn. 256 old Ed., Landn. 124, Ísl. ii. 190. afar-orð, n. overbearing words, Bs. ii. 9. afar-stórr, adj. big, Lex. Poët. afar-sætr, adj. very sweet, Sks. 534. afar-úðigr, adj. [hugð], overbearing, of violent temper, Fms. vii. 20. afar-vel, adv. very well, Hkr. i. 204, Ísl. ii. 140; cp. ofa. afar-yrði, n. = afarorð, Orkn. 274. afar-þungr, adj. heavy, Edda (Ht.) 46.

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0006, entry 10 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

af-brot, n. pl. trespasses, sin, K. Á. 36, Fms. xi. 443; very frequent in religious writings after the Reformation.

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0006, entry 15 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

af-burðr, m. (also spelt abb-), odds, balance, bias, success (cp. bera af, to prevail); kvað honum eigi annat vænna til afburðar, in order to get the better of it, Sd. 166; sá hann at engi varð afburðrinn, they fought 'aequo Marte,' Sturl. ii. 74; hann ætlaði sér afburð, he meant to keep the odds in his own hand, Ísl. ii. 450; skal nú faraí haustvíking, ok vilda ek, at hon yrði eigi með minnum afburðum, less glorious, Orkn. 464. II. gen. sing, and pl. afburðar-, a-, freq. used as a prefix in some COMPDS with the notion of gloriously, with distinction. afburðar-digr, adj. very thick, biðr. 24. afburða-fræknligr, adj. very gallant, Ísl. ii. 369. af- burðar-járn, n. excellent iron, Fms. x. 173. afburðar-maðr, m. a man of mark, Rb. 316, Orkn. 474, Grett. 133, Finnb. 318. afburðar- mikill, adj. conspicuous, Fms. v. 181. afburðar-skip, n. a fine ship, Fas. iii. 106. afburðar-vel, adv. very well, Hkr. ii. 265, Fms. ix. 515. afburðar-vænn, adj. very fine, Fas. i. 182.

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0006, entry 36 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

af-gamall, adj. [af- intens. ?], very old, decrepid from age, Nj. 190; a. karl, Fms. ii. 182, Sks. 92.

Source: Cleasby/Vigfusson, page b0007, entry 11 View original page image as: [TIFF] [PNG] [View previous entry] [View next entry]

[Comment on this entry] [View comments]

The following entry has been hand-corrected once. [Report an error]

AFI, a, m. [cp. Lat. avus, Ulf. avô = GREEK, and aba = GREEK, vir], grandfather: it is now frequent, but occurs very rarely in old writers, who almost always use móðurfaðir or föðurfaðir. Yet it occurs in the poem Rm. 16 -- afi ok amma -- and Vþm. 29, where it = föðurfaðir. It is curious to observe that in the poem Skm. -- whence it is again transferred into the Grógaldr -- it is used in the sense of a boy or a son; cp. as an illustration of this use the Norse phrase -- D. N. iv. 848 -- afi eptir afa = son after father, man after man in uninterrupted succession, in accord- ance to the Gothic aba; Edda 108, Fms. iv. 288, vi. 346, xi. 6. We also say lang-afi, great-grandfather, and langamma, great-grandmother. COMPD: afa-systir, f. great aunt, Landn. 317.

---

Result Page:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Next

Germanic Lexicon Project (main page)
This search system was written by Sean Crist
Please consider volunteering to correct the data in these online dictionaries.
No rights reserved. Feel free to use these data in any way you please.