I learned that bere is still referred to as 'bygg' in Norway. I wondered if that word ever still pops up in Orkney, and further how it is pronounced. Bygg= bye-g or begg or bigg or beeg? hmm
Begin forwarded message: > From: Steve Davie <[email protected]> > Date: September 4, 2007 9:55:09 AM EDT (CA) > To: [email protected] > Subject: BERE =BYGG > > I learned that bere is still referred to as 'bygg' in Norway. I > wondered if that word ever still pops up in Orkney, and further how > it is pronounced. Bygg= bye-g or begg or bigg or beeg? hmm
Steve Davie wrote: > I learned that bere is still referred to as 'bygg' in Norway. I > wondered if that word ever still pops up in Orkney, and further how > it is pronounced. Bygg= bye-g or begg or bigg or beeg? hmm The word was certainly used in Orkney in the past. Gregor Lamb in his "Orkney Wordbook" gives three meanings for the word "big": big 1 to build. Bigging 1 a building 2. anything built [also Scots; ON byggia] big 2 big. Big end, the room in the Orkney two-teacher school in which the big children are taught... big 3 barley [ON bygg] Others do indeed say that "bygg" means bere rather than just barley. There's a lot more on the word in the "Dictionary of the Scottish Language" at http://www.dsl.ac.uk/dsl/ Search for the word "big" and look at meaning 5. The word also occurs in some place-names. In "The Place-Names of Birsay" Hugh Marwick refers to a few of them. For example, he writes: "In the 1627 report on Earldom Parishes... is the following: 'ane littel piece land in Birsay callit Bigquoy, not far distant from the kirk, now in the hands of Thomas Swintoune, minister, being designit to him for his gleib.' Probable O.N. bygg-kvi 'bere (barley) quoy'; cf Bigland in Rousay." Marwick also suggests that Bigbreck in Twatt tunship may well be derived from big (bere) + O.N. brekka, a slope. I very much doubt if the word is used now. Meg, I've just seen your message. Bigging, Newbigging and so on aren't connected with bygg/big. See the first meaning given by Gregor Lamb that I quoted above. Bigging just means building. See too this verse from Burns's "To a Mouse": Thy wee-bit housie, too, in ruin! It's silly wa's the win's are strewin! An' naething, now, to big a new ane, O' foggage green! An' bleak December's win's ensuin, Baith snell an' keen! Norman Tulloch