Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1999, Page 287

X The Proto-Nordic frontier
267
reconstruction consist of three short syllables: (fjgld < *feluj?d, gegn <
*gagina, mettr < *matidaR), and two composite words with secondary
stress: Hroptaty and virgilnå (alliteration respectively in h and v); in
Heusler’s terminology these are “voll” and not “stumpf’ endings. The
main point, however, is the subtraction of Old Norse monosyllables
which presumably would remain so in their Proto-Nordic reconstruc-
tion.8
Table 16 displays the result of this rearrangement. In this form the
majority of tolerated forms is less overwhelming than in Noreen’s orig-
inal table, although it remains true that some poems (Alvissmål and
Håvamål III) might be reconstructed in their Proto-Nordic form without
any violation of Bugge’s rule, and nearly one half of the poems would
violate the rule in fewer than four cases. On the other hånd, by strictly
confining the examination to Old Norse monosyllables that are derived
from bisyllabic Proto-Norse forms, we have found that a considerable
8 Noreen’s list of monosyllabic Ijoåahåttr full-line endings is thus divided in the fol-
lowing three groups:
a) Proto-Nordic monosyllables: (nouns:) ku, madr, mann\ (verbs:) å, ått, baud, er, vas,
var, ver, for, gat, gol, hjo, kom, lå, lak (= lå ek ), lått, mant, un, vilt; (pronouns:) ek (?),
mik, mér, fik, fer, sik, sér, hvar, hvat, sjå, fat, fess, fvv, (adverbs :)framm, hér, svå, far,
upp; (numerals:) tveim, siau; (propositions:) å, af, at, frå, l, or, til.
b) Proto-Nordic bisyllables with short first syllable (nouns:) bur, dags, dag, dul,fé,frid,
gjgf god, gods, gud, hair, hal, ham, hjgrr, hjgr, hjgrs, hugr, hug, lid, lof iQgr, iQg, Igd,
man, mar, mat, mjgt, mjgå, mjgdr, munr, mær, mggr, mgg, nå, nås, rQk, sal, setr, sigr, sjgt,
skot, smidr, son, stad, svik, sgk, vedr, vegr, veg, vinr, vin, vit, vits, vgl, qI, gis, frg, fulr,
(verbs:) gelr, ger, getr, krefr, kømr, liggr, nemr, seg, sitr, trødr; (pronouns:) hvårs, hvårt,
samr; (adjectives:) vanr, vant, vårr, (adverbs:) mjgk, nidr, vel.
c) Proto-Nordic bisyllables with long first syllable: (nouns:) å, år, ardr, åst, barr, bjgrg,
blod, byr, bæn, bætr, drykk, eign, feigd, fljod, fold, gest, gny, greppr, hapt, harm, harms,
Hår, Hel, hjalm, hlynr, hrafns, Hropt.jårn, koss, Uf, llk, læ, mål, måls, mein, meins, menn,
mey, munn, my, Naud, nept, nipt, nid, nott, ord, råd, røkrs, rgdd, sjor, skeid, sverd, sær, sæ,
syn, Ty, Porr, vargr, vlfs, vin, vgrd, vgr, ætt, fræll, furs, fgrf, gr, (verbs:) blår, dæmår,fin-
nr,flyr, kent, leynt, renn, rennr, rænt, rædr, stendr, verår, vex; (pronouns:) hvern, hverr, sin,
sjalfr, (adjectives:) allt, gll, blauår, brått, gott, greitt, hå [n.dat.sg.], hallr, heill, heilt, hor-
skr, ilis, ilt, lengr, létt, llkr, likt, mart, nytr, satt, snaudr, strltt, sæll, synst, trur, verr, (adver-
bs:) heldr, nær, opt.
It is important to note that different forms of the same lexeme may be divided between
the two groups. The nominative mær is thus taken as a short-stem word fomi (*mawiR),
whereas the accusative mey is a long-stem word form (* maujo).
Å (f.) and ja-, jo- stems I have taken as a long-stem words (cf. discussion in Noreen
1921b: 7).