For Heaven’s sake
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Claudia DiSciacca
Abstract
This chapter deals with the Scandinavian loanwords sky and loft and their role in the configuration of the semantic field concerning “sky”, “air”, and “cloud” during the transition between Old and Middle English. It outlines the etymology and Germanic cognates of the two words and explores the contexts of their first occurrences in Old and Middle English. I examine the relationship between ON ský and lopt and their Anglo-Saxon cognates, OE scēo and lyft, reaching the conclusion that they cannot be considered to be competing doublets and that the success of Norse-derived sky and loft over or alongside their native equivalents can be put down to a process of semantic differentiation and specialisation within the semantic field.
Abstract
This chapter deals with the Scandinavian loanwords sky and loft and their role in the configuration of the semantic field concerning “sky”, “air”, and “cloud” during the transition between Old and Middle English. It outlines the etymology and Germanic cognates of the two words and explores the contexts of their first occurrences in Old and Middle English. I examine the relationship between ON ský and lopt and their Anglo-Saxon cognates, OE scēo and lyft, reaching the conclusion that they cannot be considered to be competing doublets and that the success of Norse-derived sky and loft over or alongside their native equivalents can be put down to a process of semantic differentiation and specialisation within the semantic field.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface & Acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction ix
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Part I. The evidence of place-names
- Celts in Scandinavian Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England 3
- The colonisation of England by Germanic tribes on the basis of place-names 23
- Ancient toponyms in south-west Norway 53
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Part II. Code selection in written texts
- On vernacular literacy in late medieval Norway 69
- Four languages, one text type 81
- On variation and change in London medieval mixed-language business documents 99
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Part III. Linguistic developments and contact situations
- Old English–Late British language contact and the English progressive 119
- The Old English origins of the Northern Subject Rule 141
- For Heaven’s sake 169
- North Sea timber trade terminology in the Early Modern period 193
- ‘Nornomania’ in the research on language in the Northern Isles 213
- Index of subjects, terms & languages 231
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface & Acknowledgments vii
- Editors’ introduction ix
-
Part I. The evidence of place-names
- Celts in Scandinavian Scotland and Anglo-Saxon England 3
- The colonisation of England by Germanic tribes on the basis of place-names 23
- Ancient toponyms in south-west Norway 53
-
Part II. Code selection in written texts
- On vernacular literacy in late medieval Norway 69
- Four languages, one text type 81
- On variation and change in London medieval mixed-language business documents 99
-
Part III. Linguistic developments and contact situations
- Old English–Late British language contact and the English progressive 119
- The Old English origins of the Northern Subject Rule 141
- For Heaven’s sake 169
- North Sea timber trade terminology in the Early Modern period 193
- ‘Nornomania’ in the research on language in the Northern Isles 213
- Index of subjects, terms & languages 231
