Re[2]: [tied] Nori

At 5:23:45 PM on Thursday, September 11, 2008, tgpedersen wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Brian M. Scott"
> <BMScott@...> wrote:

>> At 2:45:06 PM on Thursday, September 11, 2008, tgpedersen
>> wrote:

[...]

>>> But cf. PGmc. *winistra-, Da. venstre "left". That would
>>> make north the preferred direction.

>> I'll go with Ordbog over det Danske Sprog:

>> komp.-dannelse til stammen i I. Ven; egl.: "den
>> gunstigere" (vist opr. eufem. betegnelse for den side, der
>> betragtedes som den uheldige)

> Not exactly strikingly convincing.

I find it quite plausible; the phenomenon is common enough.

> In case you don't know, Da. vist might originally have
> been semantically aligned with German gewiss, but now it
> means something like "most likely, on the balance, I
> guess".

When it doesn't mean 'certainly'.

German has nothing to do with it; any interference in my
case would come from ON <víst> or Swedish <visst>, both of
which are stronger than Danish <vist>. (With Danish I'm
pretty careful to check the dictionary even when I think
that I recognize a word.)

[...]

Brian