ský

Forms

ský n (genitive skýs, plural ský) (strong ja-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skiwją (“cloud, cloud cover”),^[1] by de Vries's reconstruction from Proto-Norse *skeuja.^[2] It has close relatives in Old English scēo (“cloud”) and Old Saxon scio (“cloud cover, sky”).^[2][3][4] De Vries and Falk–Torp add Old Irish céo (“mist”).^[2][5]

The further origin is disputed. Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon prefers the root Proto-Indo-European *skeu- (“to cover”) of skuggi and skúm, over a link with skjár, skíma and Ancient Greek σκιά (skiá, “shadow”).^[3] Torp joined it to skína (“to shine”), which de Vries finds a poor fit for the sense,^[6][2] and de Vries also doubts Pokorny's link with skjól (“shelter”), since a cloud does not protect.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota first has the word in two manuscripts of 1200–1225, the Norwegian AM 619 4to (ſky, ſcy) and the Icelandic AM 677 4to (ský).^[7][8] IcePaHC dates its earliest text with the word, the First Grammatical Treatise, with skýja, to 1150.^[9] The sense in prose is “cloud”, as in hvergi sá ský á himni “no cloud was seen in the sky anywhere”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In prose ský is a cloud.^[11][10] In the Eddic poems skýjum efri “above the clouds” is the upper air, and Egilsson gives the plural the sense “heaven”.^[12][13] Skalds use it in kennings for the shield, such as Hildar ský.^[14]

The Icelandic word ský and the mainland sky still mean “cloud”.^[3][5] Middle English borrowed it as skie “a cloud”, and English sky came to mean the upper regions of the air.^[15][16][17]

Timeline

• 1150 – skýja in the First Grammatical Treatise, by IcePaHC's dating.^[9]
• 1200–1225 – ſky in the Norwegian AM 619 4to and ský in the Icelandic AM 677 4to.^[7][8]
• 1270–1280 – skys and skyium in AM 243 bα fol.^[18]
• Mid-13th century – Middle English skie “a cloud”, from the Norse word.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. a cloud.^[11][19]
2. (poetic, plural) the sky, the heavens.^[13][1]

Word family

• skýja

Descendants

• Icelandic ský^[1]
• Faroese skýggj^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk sky^[1]
• Swedish sky^[1]
• Danish sky^[1]
• Middle English sky (→ English sky)^[1][15][16]

Related words

• skuggi
• skúm
• skjól

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 508
3. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. ský
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. scēo
5. ^ a b Falk, Hjalmar; Torp, Alf (1910–1911), Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg, p. s.v. sky
6. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 462
7. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
9. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
10. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. ský
11. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. ský
12. ^ Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 951
13. ^ a b Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 742
14. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. ský
15. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
16. ^ a b Björkman, Erik (1900–1902), Scandinavian Loan-Words in Middle English, 2 vols, Halle: Niemeyer (Studien zur englischen Philologie 7, 11), p. 115
17. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. sky
18. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 243 bα fol
19. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 564