From: Haukur Thorgeirsson
Message: 4370
Date: 2004-06-25
> This is not quite on topic, but I am reading (slowly) the 19th centuryThis is perfectly on topic as far as I'm concerned.
> novel "Piltur Og Stúlka" by Jón Thoroddsen, and I am uncertain of the
> translation of the verb "sitja hjá" and corresponding noun "hjáseti"
> which, from the context, seem to have meanings of "watching over
> (sheep)" and "(sheep-watching)" respectively. My Modern Icelandic
> Dictionary translates "sitja hjá" as to "abstain (from voting)" (I can
> see how it gained this sense!) and Zoega's Old Icelandic Dictionary as
> "to be present at" or "to sit idly by." I was wondering if anyone could
> confirm my specific translation of these words (as used in a mid-19th
> century farming context) and tell me whether these meanings still
> persist in modern Icelandic?