Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
geodha
cove
rannoch, from
raineach
bracken
glen, from gleann
valley
ross, from ros
promontory
gower or gour,
goat
rubha
promontory
from gabhar
inch, from innis
sgeir
sea rock
meadow or island
sgurr
sharp point
inver, from inbhir
river mouth
sron
nose, prow or
ken or kin, from
ceann
head
promontory
knock, from cnoc
hill
strath, from srath
broad valley
kyle, from caolas
narrow strait
tarbet, from tairbeart
isthmus
lag
hollow
tigh
house
larach
site of an old ruin
tir or tyre, from tìr
land
liath
grey
torr
hill, castle
loch
lake
tràigh
shore
meall
round hill
uig
shelter
mon, from monadh
hill
uisge
water
more, from mór
large, great
Norn and Norse terms
Between the tenth and seventeenth centuries, the chief language of Orkney and
Shetland was Norn, a Scandinavian tongue close to modern Faroese and Icelandic.
After the end of Norse rule, and with the transformation of the Church, the law,
commerce and education, Norn gradually lost out to Scots and English, eventually
petering out completely in the eighteenth century. Today, Orkney and Shetland have
their own
dialects
, and individual islands and communities within each group have
local variations. he dialects have a Scots base, with some Old Norse words; however,
they don't sound strongly Scottish, with the Orkney accent - which has been likened to
the Welsh one - especially distinctive. Listed below are some of the words you're most
likely to hear, plus some terms that appear in place names, not just in Orkney and
Shetland, but also in parts of the Hebrides.
NORN PHRASES AND VOCABULARY
ayre
beach
mootie
tiny
bister
farm
muckle
large
böd
fisherman's store
noost
hollow place where
bruck
rubbish
a boat is drawn up
burra
heath rush
noup
steep headland
crö
sheepfold
peerie/peedie
small
eela
rod-fishing from
plantiecrub
small dry-stone enclosure
small boats
(or plantiecrö)
for growing cabbages
ferrylouper
incomer (Orkney)
quoy
enclosed, cultivated
fourareen
four-oared boat
common land
foy
party or festival
roost
tide race
geo
coastal inlet
scattald
common grazing land
haa
laird's house
scord
gap or pass in a ridge
hap
hand-knitted shawl
of hills
howe
mound
setter
farm
kame
ridge of hills
shaela
dark grey
kishie
basket
sixern/sixareen
six-oared boat
mool
headland
soothmoother
incomer (Shetland)
voe
sea inlet
moorit
brown
