Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1964, Page 219

Norse Steinn in Hebridean Place-Names
227
of the names. The reconstruction of old names may be
difficult enough where only one language need be taken
into account, and becomes even more intricate when two
(or more) languages are involved. Here, it is not enough
to be acquainted with the general rules of phonetic deve-
lopment in each language; it is also necessary to work out
a theory of the process of phonetic and phonemic adapta-
tion that took place when names originating in the loan-
giving language came into use in the recipient one. If, as
is the case with Norse names in Gaelic territory, the
borrowing of Iinguistic material may reasonably be assumed
to have taken place over a period of several hundred years,
both the loan-giving and the recipient language will prob-
ably have changed so much during that period that an
early loanword (whether placemame or not) may have been
adapted by means of a technique considerably different from
that applied to a late loan. One and the same Norse ele-
ment may, therefore, appear in different shapes according
to the time when it was admitted into Gaelic. It may also
vary according to the Gaelic dialects of the various locali-
ties where it is found today, and possibly even according
to the Norse dialects from which it was taken.
Experience in this and other fields of bilingual study
shows that it is necessary to work on the basis of the
following axiom: A word or name once borrowed will
develop phonetically and phonemically according to the
general rules of development in the ređpient language,
unless there is evidence that the borrowed item has (a) been
subject to continued influence from later stages of the
evolution of the loan-giving language or (b) received an
“irregular” treatment due to such factors as analogy, popular
etymology, and influence from other dialects of the recipient
language. This axiom must not be overlooked in bilingual
place-name study.
The material for the present investigation consists (a) of
names excerpted from the Ordnance Survey “One-Inch”
maps, (b) of my own field notes and tape recordings from