Sæll Arnljótr,

--- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "Jens Persson" <arnljotr@...>
wrote:

> I t strikes me that in Älvdalska, they say 'ûor' (=our), i.e. with

a nasalization.

>
> /Arnljotr

This makes sense. The development of our 'our' into Old Norse is
believed to have happened as follows:

*unsar - *ûsar (nasal) - *ôsar (nasal) - *ôsr + ending
'sr' in then restructured in 3 different ways:
1) reduced to /s/
2) reduced to /r/
3) deleted
1) and 2) result in *ôs (nasal) and *ôr (nasal) - Norse 'oss' & 'ór'
3) results in *ô (nasal) + (a/e)r - *ôar - *uâr - vár /vâr/
(see Voyles and others)

Gothic has both masc. & fem. 'unsar'. It is generally agreed that
our Proto-Norse speaking ancestors had *unsaraz in the masc. nom.
and *unsarû in the fem. nom. - very close to Proto-Germanic. One
suspects that the elves in Älvdal had a nasal whenever they spoke
about 'vár elfr' (our river).

Regards,
Konrad.

> --- In norse_course@yahoogroups.com, "konrad_oddsson"
> <konrad_oddsson@...> wrote:
> > 'For the examples given of the nasal vs. oral distinction this
> > appears from the etymology of each form as follows:
> >
> > (Note: nasal are within paranthesis; long vowels not indicated)
> >
> > H(A)R 'shark' *hanhaR, cf. Skt. shankú- 'stick, water animal';

but

> > HAR 'hair' *hâra, cf. OHG OS hâr, OE h´ær.
> >
> > R(O)(hooked o)'corner' *wranhô (cf. Sw. vrå), cf., with

alternation

> > according to Verner's Law, OIcel. rong (hooked o) *wrang-, OE

wrang

> > (a), cf. Mod. Engl. wrong 'twisted'; but RO (hooked o) 'yard'
> *rahô,
> > cf. Sw. rå, MHG rahe.
> >
> > Þ(E)L 'file' *þinhlô/*finhlô, cf. OHG fîhala, OE fêol, fîl, cf.
> Skt.
> > pimsháti 'hews out, carves'; but ÞEL 'woollen nap' probably

*þela,

> > cf. OE þel 'a plank, plate,' Skt. talam 'surface, level, palm'.
> >
> > F(E)R (hooked e) 'conceives' *fanhiR, cf. OIcel.inf. fá, Goth.
> > fahan, OHG OS fâhan, OE fôn *fanhan, cf., with alternation
> according
> > to Verner's Law, past part. OIcel. fengenn (cf. also Lat.

pangô);

> > but FER (hooked o) 'sheep' *fahaz - PIE *pokos, cf. Gk. pêkos,
> pôkos
> > 'wool, fleece'.
> >
> > I 'in' *in, cf. Goth. OHG OS OE in; but ISA 'ice floes'(acc.

pl.)

> > *îsanz, cf. OHG OS OE îs.
> >
> > (O)RAR 'our' (fem.pl.) *unrôR *unzarôz (My Note: oblique case of
> the
> > reflexive pronoun - Proto-Norse adjective would be *unsaraR

mas.sg.)

> > cf. Goth. unsar, OHG unsêr, OS unsa; but ORAR 'madness' *wôrôR,

cf.

> > OHG adj. wuorag, OS wôrag, OE wêrig (Mod. Engl. weary).
> >
> > (Ö)RA 'younger' (neut.) *junhiRô, cf. Goth. juhiza, and, with
> > alternation according to Verner's Law, OIcel. ungr, Goth. juggs,
> OHG
> > OS jung, OE geong; but ÖRA 'to vex' *wôrian, cf. orar above.
> >
> > Þ(U)AT 'pressed' *þunh-; but ÞU 'thou' *þû, cf. Goth. þu, Lat.

tu,

> > etc..
> >
> > S(Y)NA 'to show' *siunian, cf. OIcel. sión, Goth. siuns; whereas
> > SYNA 'laps,' as a gen. pl. of the weak fem. *sýia, must go back

to

> > *siujônô (cf. Goth.gen.pl. in -ono of fem. n-stems), with the

root

> > vowel separated from the nasal consonant by the intervening -jô-

.'

> >
> > Seeing these etymologies should underscore the importance of

this

> > type of modern linguistic research to the accurate phonological
> > representation of Old Norse. Given the advances that have been

made

> > in this type of research, we should one day be able to achieve

the

> > following: 1) produce a dictionary and printed texts in Old

Norse

> > where nasality is indicated by regular and elegant means 2)

produce

> > a standardized ancestor for Old Norse for comparative and

literary

> > purposes, one which would be a tremendous help in understanding

why

> > Old Norse is the way it is and why it is sometimes so confusing

and

> > difficult to learn.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Konrad.