Editiones Arnamagnæanæ. Series A - 01.10.2003, Blaðsíða 139

Linguistic and texual features
117*
Front mutation of ó (01 œ) appears as <æ> ‘dætnr’ 1.5 - ‘færder' 26.83 (x
18), but not as <e).
The labial mutation of a (OI q) is predominantly represented by <ö>
‘göfger’ 1.9 - Tögdu’ 27.34 (x ca 130), but also by <au> ‘baur/z’ 1.17 -
‘Aumn’ 27.34 (x 23) or <o> ‘hofdizzgi’ 1.14 - ‘olluzzz’ 26.42 (x 21).
Labial mutation of e (01 </>), too, may be written <ð) ‘tuitögeyri/zgr’ 3.28
(sole).
Labialized fracture of e (01 jq) is <io> Biorn 1.4 - ‘fiol-’ 25.94 (x 30),
and, less frequently, <iö> ‘kiöl’ 2.3 (ct ‘kiolu’ 1.10) - ‘miög’ 27.27 (x 15, 8
of which are instances of ‘mióg’) (ct ‘miog’ 3.15).
In addition to the above-mentioned cases of <ö> representing 01 q/Q, it is
also occasionally used for o, as ‘Höfstoduzn’ 9.3, ‘röckr’ 19.27, ‘sköpa’
18.133 (rhymes with ‘hopp’), or for ó, as ‘þðrazen/z’ 20.10, ‘nög’ 24.45
(unless the diacritic here is an ‘acute’ accent (or length mark), a sign which
otherwise occurs only once). <ö> further appears as an inverse spelling for
01 au ‘Giaflög-’ 1.8, 2.3, ‘sðrga-’ 9.16, 18, 46 (ct ‘saurga’ 4.8), ‘forzznötczz-’
17.77, 19.39, 57, ‘aanödga’ 24.83 (ct ‘ænaudgaúír’ 25.6).
Diphthongs The diphthong au is usually spelt <au> ‘Rauma’ 1.4 - ‘þau’
27.32 (x ca 160), or <av> ‘diup avdga’ 1.5, ‘fo/'zznavtor’ 17.72, ‘þav’ 19.23
(all); sometimes a ligature <ai>/<a/> is used ‘enndzlaist’ 19.40 - ‘kai[pa|’
26.45 (x 5), ‘motla/í’ 3.28 - ‘þa/’ 19.34 (x 6). It is possibly sometimes ex-
pressed through inverse spelling, by <ð> ‘Giaflóg-1 1.8, 2.3.
Specific combinations <uo> appears for OI vá ‘kuo/zgadr’ 1.3 - ‘huoli’
27.33 (x 93 - expansions of abbreviations not included in this calculation).
e before gi: both ‘seg-’ and ‘seig-’ occur; see under Individual word
forms.
e before ng: <eng>: ‘e/zgi’ 4.4 - ‘fe/zg[e]’ 24.80 (x 12), <eing> ‘tei/zgdcr’
1.20- ‘ei/zgi’ 26.31 (x 20).
ve is labialized to vö in ‘Jnguölldi’ 1.3, ‘kuolldz'r’ 26.71 (ct ‘kuelldit’
9.21, ‘kuelld’ 19.40), and appears as <u) in ‘ondugis’ 3.10.
Unstressed syllables There is a marked change in practice from <i) at the
beginning of the saga to <e> later for the front vowel in the final syllable.
(In the transcription ‘i’ is used in expansions except for sagði, which when
in full is noticeably usually spelt ‘sagde’ (x7 : x3).) This applies also to <in>
which is commoner than <en>. But, like sagði, forms of the name Þórarinn
are usually spelt with <e> (xl4 : x4), consequently ‘e’ is used for expansi-
ons. For the er/ir ending <er> is usual e g ‘aller’ 3.32, ‘ui/zer’ 9.21; <ir> is
rare, ‘kalladir’ 7.7. The termination is usually expressed by ('■')■, ‘er’ has
been used in expansions. For the final back round vowel <u>/<v> is used.
As a reduced round vowel in medial syllables <u> is usual e g ‘Geirrudar’
9.19, ‘þionustu’ 17.6, but alternatively <o> may occur, as ‘heilogu’ 9.50.