skjóta

Forms

skjóta (singular past indicative skaut, plural past indicative skutu, past participle skotinn) (strong)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną (“to shoot”),^[1][2] a strong verb with the cognates Old English scēotan, Old Frisian skiata, Old Saxon skiotan and Old High German sciozzan; the Old English verb became the English word shoot.^[2][3]

Its source further back is disputed.^[2][4] The older view, which de Vries and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon follow, joins it to a root Proto-Indo-European *(s)keud- seen in Indic and Lithuanian words for hurrying and nimbleness and perhaps in Albanian hedh (“I throw”).^[4][5][3] Kroonen rejects these comparisons: he takes the strong verb as made secondarily from an iterative *skut(t)ōn-, to a root *sket- seen in Lithuanian skàsti (“to jump”).^[2] De Vries finds the development of meaning unclear as well.^[4]

Many Old Norse words belong to it: skot, skjótr “swift”, skaut “corner, lap”, skeyti and skutr.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's earliest record is the Norwegian runic inscription N 386 from Stedje, which it dates 1030–1066 (Rundata has about 1100): Ólafr konungr skaut milli steina þessa “King Óláfr shot between these stones”.^[6][7] In manuscripts the verb is found from the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 B (1150–1250), with skotit.^[8]

Semantic evolution

The verb's construction is particular: the weapon or thing set in motion is in the dative, the target in the accusative.^[9][10] Fritzner puts first the general sense “to set something in quick motion”, from which come shooting with a weapon, pushing a bolt, launching a boat (skjóta skipum á vatn) and sending a person away.^[11][12] In the laws it is to refer or appeal a case and to pay or contribute money.^[13][14] Impersonally, e-u skýtr upp is “something emerges”.^[10]

The verb continues as Icelandic skjóta, Swedish skjuta and Danish skyde,^[5][15] and de Vries traces Orkney shuit “to push” and Scottish Gaelic sgiot “to scatter” to it.^[4] Hellquist calls the sense “to push” (a cart) specially Norse, and of obscure origin.^[15]

Timeline

• 1030–1066 – skaut “shot” on the Stedje inscription N 386.^[6]
• 1150–1250 – skotit in NRA norr fragm 81 B.^[8]
• 1200–1225 – skýtr, skaut, skutu in the Old Norwegian Homily Book, AM 619 4to.^[16]
• 1210 – skaut in IcePaHC's earliest text with the verb, by its dating.^[17]
• 1250–1300 – skaut in the Vǫluspá of GKS 2365 4to.^[18][19]

Meanings

Verb

1. to shoot with a weapon (the weapon in the dative, the target in the accusative); skjóta til e-s, to shoot at someone.^[12][9]
2. to push or shove quickly;^[12][20] skjóta loku fyrir, to shoot the bolt;^[12][20] skjóta báti, to launch a boat.^[12][20]
3. to send away, put someone ashore.^[11][13]
4. to throw, hurl.^[13][10]
5. (law) to refer or appeal a case.^[13]
6. to pay, contribute.^[13]
7. (impersonal) e-u skýtr upp: something shoots up, emerges.^[10]

Word family

• skot
• skyti
• skytja
• skeyta

Descendants

• Icelandic skjóta^[1]
• Faroese skjóta^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk skjota^[1]
• Old Swedish skiūta^[1]
• Swedish skjuta^[1]
• Old Danish skiūtæ^[1]
• Danish skyde^[1]

Related words

• skjótr
• skaut
• skeyti
• skutr
• skota

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 445
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 339
4. ^ a b c d e de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 496
5. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. skjóta
6. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 386
7. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 386
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 B
9. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 552
10. ^ a b c d 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. skjóta
11. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. skjóta
12. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. skjóta
13. ^ a b c d e Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 395
14. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 819
15. ^ a b Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. skjuta
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
17. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
18. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. GKS 2365 4to
19. ^ Gering, Hugo (1915), Glossar zu den Liedern der Edda, 4th ed., Paderborn, p. 160
20. ^ a b c Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 559