Saell Jon!

Please overlook the lack of Norse letters as my internet-connection
is down at present.

"OG now for sports news....

>
> Jon

Yes. "Make it fun or forget it" = make the origins and history fun.
See my remarks about O-from-AU in my next post. This matter is not
nearly as simple as it looks on the surface.

Regards,
Konrad.

> --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "konrad_oddsson"
> <konrad_oddsson@...> wrote:
> > One mysterious day, the brothers 'Ok' and 'Auk' went to visit

their

> > relatives in Gotland. Old man Goti gave them a warm welcome.

After

> a
> > traditional dinner, Goti brought out an old book and said "this

may

> > come as a surprise to the two of you, but you have six more
> brothers
> > and their names are written in this old book: Auc, Ac, Uc, Aug,

Au,

> > and Oc. They were all fine boys, but died a little before your
> time.
> > We old-timers still remember them well." Then 'Ok' stood up on

the

> > table and shouted "auuuuug! will the real conjuction please stand
> up
> > and introduce himself!" The old man looked puzzled.
> >
> > Kind reader, let us try to help the brothers make sense of this
> mess.
> > To begin with, the word "auk" is listed in Old Icelandic and both
> an
> > adverb and a conjuction - as an adverb it means "besides" and is
> the
> > same as in Modern Icelandic, as a conjuction it means "also/and"
> and
> > is translated as "ok". In Old English, "êac" is listed only as an
> > adverb in the meaning "besides" and the word "and" is listed in

the

> > meaning "ok". So also in Gothic, where "auk" is listed as an

adverb

> > in the meaning "besides" and the word "jah" is said to mean "ok".
> > Notice that all three languages, covering the extremes of

Germania,

> > list the word "auk" an an adverb meaning "besides". Notice also
> that
> > all three languages list a different word in the meaning "ok".

Now,

> > if there is any place in Scandinavia where you would expect not

to

> > find A-umlaut (that is, the mutation of U to O by A in a

following

> > syllable) it would be Gotland. In Gutiska, the language of the
> Goths
> > in south-eastern Europe, A-umlaut only occurs before R. In
> Gutniska,
> > the language of Viking Age Gotlanders, we also see a marked

absence

> > of A-umlaut. Brother "Uk" can even been seen in late 12th or

early

> > 13th century manuscripts. "Ok" can also be seen there. What does
> all
> > of this mean for the brothers "Ok" and "Auk"? Here are some
> thoughts
> > on this subject:
> >
> > 1) "auk" is a Proto-Germanic adverb meaning "besides", as

testified

> > to by Germanic languages of all three branches.
> >
> > 2) Germanic languages chose different conjuctions meaning "and",
> > none of which are likely to have been identical to the

adverb "auk".

> >
> > 3) One of the distinguishing features of Proto-Norse is retention
> of
> > unaccented A in positions where it disappeared in other

languages,

> > such as "Gothic". Here are some examples: N.M.Sg. Dagaz and

A.M.Sg.

> > Daga where "Gothic" shows N.M.Sg. Dags and A.M.Sg. Dag
> and "English"
> > shows N.M.Sg. Dæg and A.M.Sg. Dæg; Proto-Norse "ana" (=á)
> and "tila"
> > (=til) are further examples.
> >
> > 4) Norse suffered loss of initial J around 600 and underwent

rather

> > extensive A-mutation over a period of many centuries.
> >
> > 5) Gothic often shows U were Norse or Old English show A and visa
> > versa. Here is an example: "sunjis" means "true" in Gothic,

whereas

> > Old Norse shows the form "sannr". There are many such examples.
> >
> > 6) If we restore J to "ok" and remove the effects of A-umlaut we
> get
> > the rather novel looking form "juka". While novel looking at

first,

> > "juka" is really no stranger than "jah" in reality. In

fact, "juka"

> > would explain why the various inscribers from places as divergent
> as
> > Gotland and "at eggjum" in Norway inscribed as they did; it would
> > account for the various spelling trends that occur after A-

umlauted

> > "uk" had become dominant in Scandinavia; it would account for why
> > the form "ok" is nearly universal in West Norse; it would account
> > for why "og" remains almost unchallenged in modern Scandinavia;

in

> > short, it looks like a likely candidate for being the true

ancestor

> > of the common Old Norse conjuction "ok".
> >
> > Regards,
> > Konrad.