Chapter 11

FOREIGN ELEMENTS IN THE DIALECTS

There is a widely prevalent notion that the speakers of English Dialects employ none but native words; and it is not uncommon for writers who have more regard for picturesque effect than for accuracy to enlarge upon this theme, and to praise the dialects at the expense of the literary language. Of course there is a certain amount of truth in this, but it would be better to look into the matter a little more closely.

A very little reflection will show that dialect-speakers have always been in contact with some at least of those who employ words that belong rather, or once belonged, to foreign nations. Even shopkeepers are familiar with such words as _beef_, _mutton_, _broccoli_, _soda_, _cork_, _sherry_, _brandy_, _tea_, _coffee_, _sugar_, _sago_, and many more such words that are now quite familiar to every one. Yet _beef_ and _mutton_ are Norman; _broccoli_ and _soda_ are Italian; _cork_ and _sherry_ are Spanish; _brandy_ is Dutch; _tea_ is Chinese; _coffee_ is Arabic; _sugar_ is of Sanskrit origin; and _sago_ is Malay. It must be evident that many similar words, having reference to very various useful things, have long ago drifted into the dialects from the literary language. Hence the purity of the dialects from contamination with foreign influences is merely comparative, not absolute.

Our modern language abounds with words borrowed from many foreign tongues; but a large number of them have come to us since 1500. Before that date the chief languages from which it was possible for us to borrow words were British or Gaelic, Irish, Latin, Greek (invariably through the medium of Latin), Hebrew (in a small degree, through the medium of Latin), Arabic (very slightly, and indirectly), Scandinavian, and French. A few words as to most of these are sufficient.

It is not long since a great parade was made of our borrowings from "Celtic"; it was very easy to give a wild guess that an obscure word was "Celtic"; and the hardihood of the guesser was often made to take the place of evidence. The fact is that there is no such language as "Celtic"; it is the name of a group of languages, including "British" or Welsh, Cornish, Breton, Manx, Gaelic, and Irish; and it is now incumbent on the etymologist to cite the exact forms in one or more of these on which he relies, so as to adduce some semblance of proof. The result has been an extraordinary shrinkage in the number of alleged Celtic words. The number, in fact, is extremely small, except in special cases. Thus we may expect to find a few Welsh words in the dialects of Cheshire, Shropshire, or Herefordshire, on the Welsh border; and a certain proportion of Gaelic words in Lowland Scotch; though we have no reliable lists of these, and it is remarkable that such words have usually been borrowed at no very early date, and sometimes quite recently. The legacy of words bequeathed to us by the ancient Britons is surprisingly small; indeed, it is very difficult to point to many clear cases. The question is considered in my _Principles of English Etymology, Series I_, pp. 443-452, to which I may refer the reader; and a list of words of (probably) Celtic origin is given in my larger _Etymological Dictionary_, ed. 1910, p. 765. It is also explained, in my _Primer of English Etymology_ that, in the fifth century, the time of Hengist's invasion, "the common language of the more educated classes among the British was Latin, which was in use as a literary language and as the language of the British Christian Church. Hence, the Low German tribes [of invaders] found no great necessity for learning ancient British; and this explains the fact, which would otherwise be extraordinary, that modern English contains but a very small Celtic element." Of the Celts that remained within the English pale, it is certain that, in a very short time, they accepted the necessity of learning Anglian or Saxon, and lost their previous language altogether. Hence, in many dialects, as for example, in the East Midland district, the amount of words of "British" origin is practically _nil_. For further remarks on this subject, see Chapter V of _Anglo-Saxon Britain_, by Grant Allen, London, n.d.

I here give a tentative list of some Celtic words found in dialects. Their etymologies are discussed in my _Etymological Dictionary_ (1910), as they are also found in literary use; and the words are fully explained in the _English Dialect Dictionary_, which gives all their senses, and enumerates the counties in which they are found. It is doubtless imperfect, as I give only words that are mostly well known, and can be found, indeed, in the _New English Dictionary_. I give only one sense of each, and mark it as N., M., or S. (Northern, Midland, or Southern), as the case may be. The symbol "gen." means "in general use"; and "Sc." means Lowland Scotch.

_Art_, or _airt_, Sc., a direction of the wind; _banshee_, Irish, a female spirit who warns families of a death; _beltane_, N., the first of May; _bin_, M., a receptacle; _boggart_, _bogle_, N., M., a hobgoblin; _bragget_, N., M., a drink made of honey and ale; _brat_, N., M., a cloth, clout; _brock_, gen., a badger; _bug_, N., a bogy; _bugaboo_, N., M., a hobgoblin; _capercailyie_, Sc., a bird; _cateran_, Sc., a Highland robber; _char_, N., a fish; _clachan_, Sc., a hamlet; _clan_, N., M., a class, set of people; _claymore_, Sc., a two-handed sword; _colleen_, Irish, a young girl; _combe_, gen., the head of a valley; _coracle_, M., a wicker boat; _coronach_, Sc., a dirge; _corrie_, Sc., a circular hollow in a hill-side; _cosher_, Irish, a feast; _crag_, _craig_, N., a rock; _crowd_, N., S., a fiddle; _dulse_, N., an edible sea-weed; _dun_, gen., brown, greyish; _duniwassal_, Sc., a gentleman of secondary rank; _fillibeg_, Sc., a short kilt; _flummery_, Sc., M., oatmeal boiled in water; _gallowglass_, Sc., Irish, an armed foot-soldier; _galore_, gen., in abundance; _gillie_, Sc., a man-servant; _gull_, a name of various birds; _hubbub_, _hubbaboo_, Irish, a confused clamour; _inch_, Sc., Irish, a small island; _ingle_, N., M., fire, fire-place; _kelpie_, Sc., a water-spirit; _kibe_, gen., a chilblain; _linn_, N., a pool; _loch_, N., _lough_, Irish, a lake; _metheglin_, M., S., beer made from honey; _omadhaun_, Irish, a simpleton; _pose_, gen. (but perhaps obsolete), a catarrh; _rapparee_, Sc., Irish, a vagabond; _shillelagh_, Irish, a cudgel; _skain_, _skean_, Sc., Irish, a knife, dagger; _sowens_, _sowans_, Sc., a dish made from oatmeal-husks steeped in water (from Gael, _sùghan_, the juice of sowens); _spalpeen_, Irish, a rascal; _spleuchan_, Sc., Irish, a pouch, a purse; _strath_, N., a valley; _strathspey_, Sc., a dance, named from the valley of the river Spey; _tocher_, N., a dowry; _usquebaugh_, Sc., Irish, whiskey; _wheal_, Cornish, a mine.

Latin is a language from which English has borrowed words in every century since the year 600. In my _Principles of English Etymology, First Series_, Chap. XXI, I give a list of Latin words imported into English before the Norman Conquest. Several of these must be familiar in our dialects; we can hardly suppose that country people do not know the meaning of ark, beet, box, candle, chalk, cheese, cook, coulter, cup, fennel, fever, font, fork, inch, kettle, kiln, kitchen, and the like. Indeed, _ark_ is quite a favourite word in the North for a large wooden chest, used for many purposes; and Kersey explains it as "a country word for a large chest to put fruit or corn in." _Candle_ is so common that it is frequently reduced to _cannel_; and it has given its name to "cannel coal." Every countryman is expected to be able to distinguish "between chalk and cheese." _Coulter_ appears in ten dialect forms, and one of the most familiar agricultural implements is a pitch-_fork_. The influence of Latin requires no further illustration.

I also give a list of early words of Greek origin; some of which are likewise in familiar use. I may instance alms, angel, bishop, butter, capon, chest, church, clerk, copper, devil, dish, hemp, imp, martyr, paper (ultimately of Egyptian origin), plaster, plum, priest, rose, sack, school, silk, treacle, trout. Of course the poor old woman who says she is "a martyr to tooth-ache" is quite unconscious that she is talking Greek. Probably she is not without some smattering of Persian, and knows the sense of lilac, myrtle, orange, peach, and rice; of Sanskrit, whence pepper and sugar-candy; of Arabic, whence coffee, cotton, jar, mattress, senna, and sofa; and she will know enough Hebrew, partly from her Bible, to be quite familiar with a large number of biblical names, such as Adam and Abraham and Isaac, and very many more, not forgetting the very common John, Joseph, Matthew, and Thomas, and the still more familiar Jack and Jockey; and even with a few words of Hebrew origin, such as alleluia, balm, bedlam, camel, cider, and sabbath. The discovery of the New World has further familiarised us all with chocolate and tomato, which are Mexican; and with potato, which is probably old Caribbean. These facts have to be borne in mind when it is too rashly laid down that words in English dialects are of English origin.

Foreign words of this kind are, however, not very numerous, and can easily be allowed for. And, as has been said, our vocabulary admits also of a certain amount of Celtic. It remains to consider what other sources have helped to form our dialects. The two most prolific in this respect are Scandinavian and French, which require careful consideration.

It is notorious that the Northern dialect admits Scandinavian words freely; and the same is true, to a lesser degree, of East Midland. They are rare in Southern, and in the Southern part of West Midland. The constant invasions of the Danes, and the subjection of England under the rule of three Danish kings, Canute and his two successors, have very materially increased our vocabulary; and it is remarkable that they have perhaps done more for our dialects than for the standard language. The ascendancy of Danish rule was in the eleventh century; but (with a few exceptions) it was long before words which must really have been introduced at that time began to appear in our literature. They must certainly have been looked upon, at the first, as being rustic or dialectal. I have nowhere seen it remarked, and I therefore call attention to the fact, that a certain note of rustic origin still clings to many words of this class; and I would instance such as these: bawl, bloated, blunder, bungle, clog, clown, clumsy, to cow, to craze, dowdy, dregs, dump, and many more of a like character. I do not say that such words cannot be employed in serious literature; but they require skillful handling.

For further information, see the chapter on "The Scandinavian Element in English," in my _Principles of English Etymology, Series I_.

With regard to dialectal Scandinavian, see the List of English Words, as compared with Icelandic, in my Appendix to Cleasby and Vigfusson's _Icelandic Dictionary_. In this long list, filling 80 columns, the dialectal words are marked with a dagger {+*}. But the list of these is by no means exhaustive, and it will require a careful search through the pages of the _English Dialect Dictionary_ to do justice to the wealth of this Old Norse element. There is an excellent article on this subject by Arnold Wall, entitled "A Contribution towards the Study of the Scandinavian element in the English Dialects," printed in the German periodical entitled _Anglia, Neue Folge_, Band VIII, 1897.

I now give a list, a mere selection, of some of the more remarkable words of Scandinavian origin that are known to our dialects. For their various uses and localities, see the _English Dialect Dictionary_; and for their etymologies, see my Index to Cleasby and Vigfusson. Many of these words are well approved and forcible, and may perhaps be employed hereafter to reinforce our literary language.

_Addle_, to earn; _and_ (in Barbour, _aynd_) sb., breath; _arder_, a ploughing; _arr_, a scar; _arval_, a funeral repast; _aund_, fated, destined; _bain_, ready, convenient; _bairns' lakings_, children's playthings; _beck_, a stream; _big_, to build; _bigg_, barley; _bing_, a heap; _birr_, impetus; _blaeberry_, a bilberry; _blather_, _blether_, empty noisy talk; _bouk_, the trunk of the body; _boun_, ready; _braid_, to resemble, to take after; _brandreth_, an iron framework over a fire; _brant_, steep; _bro_, a foot-bridge with a single rail; _bule_, _bool_, the curved handle of a bucket; _busk_, to prepare oneself, dress; _caller_, fresh, said of fish, etc.; _carle_, a rustic, peasant; _carr_, moist ground; _cleck_, to hatch (as chickens); _cleg_, a horse-fly; _coup_, to exchange, to barter; _dag_, dew; _daggle_, to trail in the wet; _dowf_, dull, heavy, stupid; _dump_, a deep pool.

_Elding_, _eliding_, fuel; _ettle_, to intend, aim at; _feal_, to hide; _fell_, a hill; _fey_, doomed, fated to die; _flake_, a hurdle; _force_, a water-fall; _gab_, idle talk; _gain_, adj., convenient, suitable; _gait_, a hog; _gar_, to cause, to make; _garn_, yarn; _garth_, a field, a yard; _gate_, a way, street; _ged_, a pike; _gilder_, a snare, a fishing-line; _gilt_, a young sow; _gimmer_, a young ewe; _gloppen_, to scare, terrify; _glare_, to stare, to glow; _goam_, _gaum_, to stare idly, to gape, whence _gomeril_, a blockhead; _gowk_, a cuckoo, a clown; _gowlan_, _gollan_, a marigold; _gowpen_, a double handful; _gradely_, respectable; _graithe_, to prepare; _grice_, a young pig; _haaf_, the open sea; _haver_, oats; _how_, a hillock, mound; _immer-goose_, _ember-goose_, the great Northern diver; _ing_, a lowlying meadow; _intake_, a newly enclosed or reclaimed portion of land; _keld_, a spring of water; _kenning_, knowledge, experience; _kilp_, _kelp_, the iron hook in a chimney on which pots are hung; _kip_, to catch fish in a particular way; _kittle_, to tickle; _lain_, _lane_, to conceal; _lair_, a muddy place, a quick-sand; _lait_, to seek; _lake_, to play; _lathe_, a barn; _lax_, a salmon; _lea_, a scythe; _leister_, a fish-spear with prongs and barbs; _lift_, the air, sky; _lig_, to lie down; _lispund_, a variable weight; _lit_, to dye; _loon_, the Northern diver; _lowe_, a flame, a blaze.

_Mense_, respect, reverence, decency, sense; _mickle_, great; _mirk_, dark; _morkin_, a dead sheep; _muck_, dirt; _mug_, fog, mist, whence _muggy_, misty, close, dull; _neif_, _neive_, the fist; _ouse_, _ouze_, to empty out liquid, to bale out a boat; _paddock_, a frog, a toad; _quey_, a young heifer; _rae_, a sailyard; _rag_, hoarfrost, rime; _raise_, a cairn, a tumulus; _ram_, _rammish_, rank, rancid; _rip_, a basket; _risp_, to scratch; _rit_, to scratch slightly, to score; _rawk_, _roke_, a mist; _roo_, to pluck off the wool of sheep instead of shearing them; _roose_, to praise; _roost_, _roust_, a strong sea-current, a race.

_Sark_, a shirt; _scarf_, a cormorant; _scopperil_, a teetotum; _score_, a gangway down to the sea-shore; _screes_, rough stones on a steep mountain-side, really for _screethes_ (the _th_ being omitted as in _clothes_), from Old Norse _skriða_, a land-slip on a hill-side; _scut_, a rabbit's tail; _seave_, a rush; _sike_, a small rill, gutter; _sile_, a young herring; _skeel_, a wooden pail; _skep_, a basket, a measure; _skift_, to shift, remove, flit; _skrike_, to shriek; _slocken_, to slake, quench; _slop_, a loose outer garment; _snag_, a projecting end, a stump of a tree; _soa_, a large round tub; _spae_, to foretell, to prophesy; _spean_, a teat, (as a verb) to wean; _spelk_, a splinter, thin piece of wood; _steg_, a gander; _storken_, to congeal; _swale_, a shady place; _tang_, the prong of a fork, a tongue of land; _tarn_, a mountain pool; _tath_, manure, _tathe_, to manure; _ted_, to spread hay; _theak_, to thatch; _thoft_, a cross-bench in a boat; _thrave_, twenty-four sheaves, or a certain measure of corn; _tit_, a wren; _titling_, a sparrow; _toft_, a homestead, an old enclosure, low hill; _udal_, a particular tenure of land; _ug_, to loathe; _wadmel_, a species of coarse cloth; _wake_, a portion of open water in a frozen lake or stream; _wale_, to choose; _wase_, a wisp or small bundle of hay or straw; _whauve_, to cover over, especially with a dish turned upside down; _wick_, a creek, bay; _wick_, a corner, angle.

Another source of foreign supply to the vocabulary of the dialects is French; a circumstance which seems hitherto to have been almost entirely ignored. The opinion has, I think, been expressed more than once, that dialects are almost, if not altogether, free from French influence. Some, however, have called attention, perhaps too much attention, to the French words found in Lowland Scotch; and it is common to adduce always the same set of examples, such as _ashet_, a dish (F. _assiette_, a trencher, plate: Cotgrave), _gigot_, a leg of mutton, and _petticoat-tails_, certain cakes baked with butter (ingeniously altered from _petits gastels_, old form of _petits gâteaux_), by way of illustration. Indeed, a whole book has been written on this subject; see _A Critical Enquiry into the Scottish Language_, by Francisque-Michel, 4to, Edinburgh, 1882. But the importance of the borrowings, chiefly in Scotland, from Parisian French, has been much exaggerated, as in the work just mentioned; and a far more important source has been ignored, viz. Anglo-French, which I here propose to consider.

By Anglo-French is meant the highly important form of French which is largely peculiar to England, and is of the highest value to the philologist. The earliest forms of it were Norman, but it was afterwards supplemented by words borrowed from other French dialects, such as those of Anjou and Poitou, as well as from the Central French of Paris. It was thus developed in a way of its own, and must always be considered, in preference to Old Continental French, when English etymologies are in question. It is true that it came to an end about 1400, when it ceased to be spoken; but at an earlier date it was alive and vigorous, and coined its own peculiar forms. A very simple example is our word _duty_, which certainly was not borrowed from the Old French _devoir_, but from the Anglo-French _duetee_, a word familiar in Old London, but absolutely unknown to every form of continental French.

The point which I have here to insist upon is that not only does our literary language abound with Anglo-French words, but that they are also common enough in our dialects; a point which, as far as I know, is almost invariably overlooked. Neither have our dialects escaped the influence of the Central French of Paris, and it would have been strange if they had; for the number of French words in English is really very large. It is not always possible to discriminate between the Old French of France and of England, and I shall here consider both sources together, though the Old Norman words can often be easily discerned by any one who is familiar with the Norman peculiarities. Of such peculiarities I will instance three, by way of example. Thus Anglo-French often employs _ei_ or _ey_ where Old French (i.e. of the continent) has _oi_ or _oy_; and English has retained the old pronunciations of _ch_ and _j_. Hence, whilst _convoy_ is borrowed from French, _convey_ is Anglo-French. _Machine_ is French, because the _ch_ is pronounced as _sh_; but _chine_, the backbone, is Anglo-French. _Rouge_ is French, because of the peculiar pronunciation of the final _ge_; but _rage_ is Anglo-French; and _jaundice_ is Anglo-French, as it has the old _j_. See Chapters III-VI of my _Principles of English Etymology, Second Series_.

A good example of a dialect word is _gantry_ or _gauntree_, a wooden stand for barrels, known in varying forms in many dialects. It is rightly derived, in the _E.D.D._, from _gantier_, which must have been an A.F. (Anglo-French) form, though now only preserved in the Rouchi dialect, spoken on the borders of France and Belgium, and nearly allied to Norman; in fact, M. Hécart, the author of the _Dictionnaire_ _Rouchi-Français_, says he had heard the word in Normandy, and he gives a quotation for it from Olivier Basselin, a poet who lived in Normandy at the beginning of the fifteenth century. The Parisian form is _chantier_, which Cotgrave explains as "a Gauntrey... for hogs-heads to stand on." Here is a clear example of a word which is of Norman, or A.F., origin; and there must be many more such of which the A.F. form is lost. There is no greater literary disgrace to England than the fact that there is no reasonable Dictionary in existence of Anglo-French, though it contains hundreds of highly important legal terms. It ought, in fact, to have been compiled before either the _English Dialect Dictionary_ or the _New English Dictionary_, both of which have suffered from the lack of it.

It would indeed be tedious to enumerate the vast number of French words in our dialects. Many are literary words used in a peculiar sense, often in one that has otherwise been long obsolete; such as _able_, rich; _access_, an ague-fit; _according_, comparatively; _to act_, to show off, be ridiculous; _afraid_, conj., for fear that; _agreeable_, willing; _aim_, to intend; _aisle_, a central thoroughfare in a shop, etc.; _alley_, the aisle of a church; _allow_, to suppose; _anatomy_, a skeleton; _ancient_, an ensign, flag; _anguish_, inflammation; _annoyance_, damage; _anointed_, notoriously vicious; _apron_, the diaphragm of an animal; _apt_, sure; _arbitrary_, impatient of restraint; _archangel_, dead nettle; _argue_, to signify; _arrant_, downright; _auction_, an untidy place, a crowd; _avise_ (for _advise_), to inform. It is needless to go through the rest of the alphabet.

Moreover, dialect-speakers are quite capable of devising new forms for themselves. It is sufficient to instance _abundation_, abundance; _ablins_, possibly (made from _able_); _argle_, _argie-bargie_, _argle-bargle_, _argufy_, all varieties of the verb _to argue_; and so on.

The most interesting words are those that have survived from Middle English or from Tudor English times. Examples are _aigre_, sour, tart, which is Shakespeare's _eagre_, _Hamlet_, I, v 69; _ambry_, _aumbry_, cupboard, spelt _almarie_ in _Piers the Plowman_, B XIV 246; _arain_, a spider, spelt _yreyn_ in Wyclif's translation of Psalm XC 10, which, after all, is less correct; _arles_, money paid on striking a bargain, a highly interesting word, spelt _erles_ in the former half of the thirteenth century; _arris_, the angular edge of a cut block of stone, etc., from the O.F. _areste_, L. _arista_, which has been revived by our Swiss mountain-climbers in the form _aréte_; _a-sew_, dry, said of cows that give no milk (cf. F. _essuyer_, to dry); _assoilyie_, to absolve, acquit, and _assith_, to compensate, both used by Sir W. Scott; _astre_, _aistre_, a hearth, a Norman word found in 1292; _aunsel_, a steelyard, of which the etymology is given in the _E.D.D._; _aunter_, an adventure, from the A.F. _aventure_; _aver_, a beast of burden, horse, used by Burns, from the A.F. _aveir_, property, cattle; _averous_, A.F. _averous_, avaricious, in Wyclif's translation of 1 Cor. vi 10.

Here is ample proof of the survival of Anglo-French in our dialects. Indeed, their chief philological use consists in the great antiquity of many of the terms, which often preserve Old English and Anglo-French forms with much fidelity. The charge often brought against dialect speakers of using "corrupt" forms is only occasionally and exceptionally true. Much worse "corruptions" have been made by antiquaries, in order to suit their false etymologies.