Papers by Veturliði Óskarsson
VETURLIÐI ÓSKARSSON 1 Inledning F lera isländska texter från 1300-till 1700-talet behandlar eller... more VETURLIÐI ÓSKARSSON 1 Inledning F lera isländska texter från 1300-till 1700-talet behandlar eller hänvisar till det från den antika litteraturen väl kända fenomenet labyrint. 1 Detta görs med såväl text som bilder. Redan i de äldsta beläggen används ett särisländskt ord om detta, vǫlundarhús, med syftning på mästersmeden Vǫlundr i eddadikten Vǫlundarkviða (Völundskvädet). 2 Han beskrivs i en prosainledning till dikten som "hagastr maðr, svá at menn viti, í fornum sǫgum" (Eddukvaeði I: 429), dvs. 'den mest hantverksskicklige man som man känner till i forna berättelser'. Detta ord har sedan använts i isländskan för labyrint i alla ordets betydelser, direkta såväl som symboliska. I betydel sen 'en byggnad med många slingrande gångar av så invecklad art att man har svårt att finna vägen ut ur den' (SAOB, labyrint bet. 1) före kommer ordet i texter från tidigt 1300-tal. I en utvidgad metaforisk betydelse (SAOB bet. 2, "utvidgad l. bildl. anv., om plats l. anläggning l. före mål som mer l. mindre påminner om en labyrint", med exempel som dock alla syftar på fysiska föremål), ser man ordet t.ex. i en uppbygglig skrift från 1630 (Þórunn Sigurðardóttir 2004), där livet jämförs med en laby rint. I betydelsen 'ett organ i innerörat' (SAOB bet. 3), vilket är en bild lig medicinsk-terminologisk betydelse, finns ordet först, som det synes, i en översättning av en handbok om fysik från 1852. Översättaren var en ung präst. Många språkliga nybildningar 1 Jag tackar de två anonyma granskarna för deras noggranna och värdefulla synpunkter och kommentarer. 2 Namnet på dikten, personen i dikten och det fornisländska ordet för labyrint skrivs i det följande med bokstaven 'ǫ' enligt konventionell stavning, även exempel på orden i eftermedeltida handskrifter. Nyisländska exempel (efter 1540) stavas med 'ö'.
This article deals with the word "stálbað" in Icelandic, which has equivalents in other... more This article deals with the word "stálbað" in Icelandic, which has equivalents in other Nordic languages, and has its roots in the word "Stahlbad" in German
Orð og tunga
The article discusses the words fokka (verb) and fokk (noun) in Icelandic. These words have a dua... more The article discusses the words fokka (verb) and fokk (noun) in Icelandic. These words have a dual origin in the language. On the one hand, the verb was probably first borrowed from older Danish or Low German already in the 17th century, and the noun later derived from it. On the other hand, the much more recent loanword, E. fuck (verb, noun, exclamation), took the same form in the language, both in writing and pronunciation. This happened even though Icelandic phonotactics and phonology require the short vowel in English words such as butter, hut, luck, etc. to be represented by the Icel. phoneme /ö/, surfacing as [œ], when such words enter the language as loanwords or are pronounced with an Icelandic accent. However, the words fuck and fucking, which started appearing in Icelandic newspapers and magazines around 1970, are almost always pronounced and spelt differently than expected, i.e., with the vowel [ɔ] and spelt fokk, fokking, not with [œ] or spelt *fökk, *fökking. The reason...
Menningar- og minningarsjóður Mette Magnussen, 2018
A short text from Konungs skuggsjá. (In Icelandic.)
The article focuses on fifteenth-century Icelandic translations from English. The translation wor... more The article focuses on fifteenth-century Icelandic translations from English. The translation work took place when Middle Low German was the most influential foreign language in the Nordic countries, and English was only little known. On the one hand, use of Middle Low German words in the translation of an English text is investigated, and it is argued that such use marks the position of Middle Low German as a “global language” in the Nordic language area in the fifteenth century. On the other hand, examples are given of the impact of the original text on the Icelandic translation.
This is the author's opposition to Katrin Axelsdottirs disputation at the University of Icela... more This is the author's opposition to Katrin Axelsdottirs disputation at the University of Iceland 16th January 2015.
Anmalan av Jon Olafsson ur Grunnavik: AEvisogur ypparlegra merkismanna, utg. av Guðrun Asa Grimsd... more Anmalan av Jon Olafsson ur Grunnavik: AEvisogur ypparlegra merkismanna, utg. av Guðrun Asa Grimsdottir. Reykjavik 2013: Goðvinir Grunnavikur-Jons. xlviii + 330 s.
The article discusses the compound verb finnvitka, ‘to bewitch like a Finn [or Sami]’, that occur... more The article discusses the compound verb finnvitka, ‘to bewitch like a Finn [or Sami]’, that occurs once in Old Norse literature, in Flateyjarbok (1387–95). Farreaching conclusions have been drawn a ...
This book review looks at three works from 2001 and 2002, which together discuss the impact of En... more This book review looks at three works from 2001 and 2002, which together discuss the impact of English on 16 European languages in the second part of the 20th century one of which is Icelandic. Editor of all three books is Manfred Gorlach. Asta Svavarsdottir and Guðrun Kvaran are responsible for the Icelandic material. A Dictionary of European Anglicisms. A Usage Dictionary of Anglicisms in Sixteen European Languages (2001) covers approximately 1500 words and phrases of English origin. The microstructure is unconventional, and many users will probably find the book rather difficult to use. Compact dictionary entries, together with the necessary coordination of complicated material from 16 languages, appears to lead to confusing or even wrong results. However, despite some disadvantages, the book gives indications of the scale of English loanwords in Modern Icelandic. An Annotated Bibliography of European Anglicisms (2002) covers research on loanwords from English in the languages in...
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Papers by Veturliði Óskarsson