Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1968, Page 100
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More on Faroese Bird Names
To man, the eider is che most prized of the ducks. We there-
fore suggest chat che disparaging rusk here means che opposite
of what it says: it refers to Che valuable down, che ordinary
name dún having not unexpectedly fallen under taboo in sea-
man’s parlance.
Skata
ln a footnote, FBN, 46, I questiioned che traditional etymo-
logy of skata ‘magpie’ w'hich connects the name with No. skata
‘løpe ut i en spids’, the bird being called after its long tail.
My objections were partly for che reason that, in che Swedish
dialects, this name is also give co other birds, sudh as thrushes
and dippers. I tended to think more in terms of an onoma-
topoeic origin. However, I now learn from che files of the
Tiernamenwórterbuchstelle, Berlin, chat in German, coo, the
name of the magpie proper has very frequently been trans-
ferred to numerous ocher species in cases also wihere onama-
topoeia could play no part. It must be assumed that similar
tliings ihave happened in Swedish, so that my objections were
groundless.