Gregory's Server@oysteib @Tabularius There's the same semantic shift in Swedish. To be "i någots skygd" is to be 'under the protection of something'. But "skygd" (which is a rare word in modern usage) has the same root as "skugga" ('shade/shadow') and originally meant something 'shaded' (from the verb "skygga", 'to shade something'). I don't know if Norwegian is similar.
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@oysteib @Tabularius In Swedish, there's the old-fashioned "skygd" and the perfectly current "skydd" (meaning 'protection'). I would have thought they were related, but apparently not. According to SAOB (the Swedish Academy Historical Dictionary, the Swedish equivalent of OED), "skydd" is a loan from Low German (just like "beskyttelse"), while "skygd" is a Norse word. Language is continually strange. |
@strutsulf @Tabularius We have 'beskyttelse', probably via Low German, but I never considered there might be a connection to 'skygge'!