Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.2003, Page 182
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Forrest S. Scott
‘quiedu’ (kvedju) 56.12, ‘kuiedia’ (kvedja) 176.20. Hånd ii also has an
example of this: ‘gliepiast’ (glepjast) 92.6-7.
Such mistakes might now be attributed to dyslexia, but it is possible
that a more likely cause is that they were produced by a child under 14
with only elementary training. Mistakes that create an unintentional
comic effect occur e g ‘apalegur’ 202.20 for apalgrår IFIV, 171.17, ‘f>.
k. gieck optast sydann vid trie fot’ 153.17 for alla stund IF IV, 30.23,
‘marger eru mal heirendur og opt eru flogd j føgrum skickium’ 35.8-9
for marlldendr... fQgru skinni IF IV, 28.27-29.1.
More interesting from a linguistic point of view are the following
features:
1. Confusion of intervocalic /r/ and /rr/: ‘Snori’ (Snorri) 39.10, 63.8,
74.4, 73.8, ‘{nierran’ (pveran) 110.4, 141.3.
2. The form ‘Vichfusar’ appears for Vigfusar at 11.3, perhaps indic-
ating devoicing.
3. The graphs <c>, <k> may represent palatalized /k/, /kj/, before /a/
and /u/ e g ‘J>ica’ ipykkja) 72.17, ‘tækum’ (tækjum) 70.18, ‘sæka’ {sækja)
110.19, 111.3. Similarly the graphs (g), (gg) may represent /gj/, /ggj/
eg ‘tueggum’ (tveggjum) 18.14, ‘dylgur’ {dylgjur) 19.2, 113.2, 134.4,
146.16, ‘frelsinga’ (frelsingja) 21.15-16, ‘hamingu-‘ (hamingju) 35.10,
‘Riecku’ (rekkju) 35.16, ‘joiga’ (piggja) 67.8. But usually an <i> is
present. Inversely, ‘lykium’ {likum) 48.11, ‘biuggiu’ {bjuggu) 123.14.
Similarly, with (d) for /5j/ e g ‘midan’ 111.16, ‘miduna’ 150.23 and
with <s> for /sj/ ‘dysudu’ 106.5, and perhaps with (r) for /rj/ ‘huorum’
152.2.
4. Frequently the scribe omits an /r/ before an /n/, probably reflecting
actual pronunciation, but whether as /dn/ or /n/ is not obvious. Usually
this omission occurs in plural forms e g ‘sulunnar’ {sulurnar) 6.20, ‘dyl-
aner’ {dllarniij 131.7, ‘herdanar’ {herdarnaij 36.7, ‘Berserkener’
(berserkirnir) 67.7, 68.12; the omission is frequent in this somewhat
lengthy word. Other examples are ‘{arælanner’ (prælarnir) 112.1,
‘skalminnar’ (skålmirnar) 206.10. Such spellings are not necessarily
plurals; e g ‘nockunn’ {nokkurn) 95.12, ‘boranne’ (Porarni) 43.10 and
the inverse forms ‘sueim-’ (sveinn-) 11.22, 24.1, 128.8, 172.13, ‘spom’
(sponn) 28.20.
5. <y>, which may appear with or without two dots, is used in a more
specialized way in Hånd ii. It occurs not only where the vowel is long
/i/ but for the second component of the diphthong /ei/ (e g ‘Alfgeyr’