Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1971, Page 112

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Some Notes on Faroese Bird Names
Karkarassur
Three of the many names for the puffin, usually called
lundi m., have a common first component, karkarassur, karka-
rakkur, karkareyði. The first one is clearly a pejorative name,
the second component -rassur meaning “ass”. In the second
name -rakkur is, according to Lockwood, “presumably ....
a corruption of -rassur,” while -reyði in the third name comes
from the adjective reyður “red”, and refers to the red “beak
and/or legs of the bird” (Lockwood, Far. Bird Names, pp.
17—18). The component karka- is according to Lockwood
(op.cit.) obscure.
It would seem, however, that karka- might be interpreted
satisfactorily as an onomatopoeic (saund-imitating) word.
Transcribing screams and sounds made by birds and other
animals in letters of the alphabet is of course a nearly im-
possible task, and the perception of the sounds is highly
subjective. The crowing of the cock, the barking of the dog,
and the grunting of the pig have many different transcriptions
in the various languages. However, an investigation of the
voice of the puffin in various books on birds, and also of some
more general terms for the screaming of birds, indicates that
the interpretation of karka- as a sound-imitating word is
certainly very possible.
In Witherby: The Handbook of British Birds, 5. impr. 1948,
Vol. V, p. 168, we find the following description of the
puffin’s voice: “Has only one note uttered at or in burrows
or on the sea, a low growling “arr”, sometimes uttered singly,
but generally thrice in slow succession, and in fighting, same
growl is uttered, but more sharply” (R. M. Lockley). Also
rendered “co-o-or-aa” or “haa-haa” R. Perry. In Fuglene i
Norden, Oslo 1953, Vol. 3, p. 231: “Pa vartiden kan man høre
et sakte kurrende gra-gra i forskjellige jamrende tonelag
(Rosenius).” In Nordens Fugle i Farver, Cobenhagen 1958—63,
Vol. 3, p. 245: “et lavt rullende aar-ha-ha.”
In Bløndal, íslendsk-dønsk orðabók, Copenhagen 1920—24,
we find the following more general reference to bird voices: