Vocabulary

Long before the Normans invaded Britain, the east coast of Yorkshire was subject to numerous invasions by Danes and other Scandinavians. No doubt they were seeking their fortunes, expanding their influence.

The legacy of those Vikings is still with us today - in our landscape, our place names and the very language we speak. My family name is of Viking origin like nearly all names that end with the suffix "-by" and given my family history I am pretty certain that if I had one of those genetic blood tests the result would confirm the strength of my Viking inheritance.

Long ago, I knew an old farming fellow called John. He was born and raised in the village of my childhood and later he died there. We would sometimes chat together in "The Hare and Hounds" and one night he talked about Viking words. He gave the example of the word "yitten" which means scared or frightened, claiming it was peculiar to East Yorkshire. I certainly used it in the school playground.

Decades later I am not certain that John got the source of that word right even though it's not really used in the south or west of England. However, what I do know is that words of undoubted Viking origin are certainly more prevalent on the east coast of Yorkshire than they are in other parts of the country.

They include:-

dale - valley

gawp - look or stare

Ey up! - a common form of greeting, like "hello!"

laik - to lark or play

siling - pouring down with rain

lug - to heave or carry

fell  - hill or mountain

I could possibly  boggle your mind with a much longer list of Norse words in English but I think this handful of examples will suffice just to illustrate my point. The Norse invaders may have first come here over 1300 years ago but they certainly left their mark. As I write it is Thursday or as those Vikings might have said - Thor's Day.

from Yorkshire Pudding https://ift.tt/7F3OCji