Re: [tied] Re: Indo-European for Uralic speakers

At 5:47:21 PM on Saturday, September 6, 2003, Ben McGarr wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "aquila_grande"
> <aquila_grande@...> wrote:

>> The "swedish" word for boy (poike) is a loan from finnish
>> (poika). I once talked with a swede that was unhappy
>> about having borrowed such an important word, when
>> Norwegians have their own word (gutt).

> I wonder is there any link with the pejorative English
> word "get" or "git"?

Doesn't appear to be; that's 'what is begotten'.

> The meaning is something like "devil" or "swine" or generally an
> unpleasant [but almost always male] person. E.g. "You cheeky little
> get!" "What's that old git doing, over there?"

From SAOB s.v. <gutt>:

[sv. dial. (västra Sv.) <gutt>, <gut>, <gud>, pojke,
motsv. nor. (dial.) <gutt>, <gut>, pojke, d. dial. <gud>
(jfr d. <gut>); möjl. i avljudsförh. dels till sv. dial.
(Finl.) <göut>, <gosse>, slyngel m. m., motsv. nor. dial.
<gaut>, pratmakare, till nor. dial. <gauta>, prata mycket,
skryta (jfr isl. <gautan>, prat), o. dels till holl.
<guit>, skojare, upptågsmakare, till (ä.) holl. <guiten>,
skälla, skoja (jfr t. dial. <gauzen>, skrika, skälla);
möjl. till ljudroten <gu->, <gau-> (se GÖ, v.); i sv.
delvis lån från nor.]

> Is it known when Poika ended up in Swedish? Gustavus
> Adolphus' day, or when a load of Finns came to Varmland in
> modern times, or older?

SAOB s.v. <pojke> notes a compound <skinnara-poika> already
in 1329 and <poika> itself in 1455.

Brian