Gamalnorsk *mǫð f. ‘slåtteeng’ i norske stadnamn
Danish and Swedish mad(e) m. ‘flood-meadow’ (cognate of e.g., German Matte and English meadow) presupposes PN *madu and ON *mǫð f., but such a common noun is unattested. Nonetheless, a few Norwegian oeconyms are interpreted as developments of *mǫð f. in Norske Gaardnavne. An in-depth analysis of the...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Danish |
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Novus forlag
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Namn og Nemne |
| Online Access: | https://ojs.novus.no/index.php/NON/article/view/2342 |
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| Summary: | Danish and Swedish mad(e) m. ‘flood-meadow’ (cognate of e.g., German Matte and English meadow) presupposes PN *madu and ON *mǫð f., but such a common noun is unattested. Nonetheless, a few Norwegian oeconyms are interpreted as developments of *mǫð f. in Norske Gaardnavne. An in-depth analysis of their toponymic environments shows that they probably originated as names of hayfields in relation to earlier settlements. Therefore, we can assume that *mǫð f. was one of the many ON words for grassland (cf. engjar f. pl., vin f., ló f./n., fit f., etc.). The eventual disappearance of *mǫð could be due to competition from more common synonyms as engjar f. pl. and ey f. ‘meadow next to a body of water’. The hypothetical derivative *mǽði n. is also discussed, but while formally possible, its existence is improbable due to a dubious empirical background and overall lack of corresponding formations outside of West Norse. |
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| ISSN: | 0800-4684 2703-7371 |