spjall

Icelandic

Etymology

From Old Norse spjall, from Proto-Germanic *spellą. Cognate with English spell, dialectal German Spill, Albanian fjalë.

Noun

spjall n

talk, gossip

Synonyms

(talk): samræða f
(gossip): slúður n

Derived terms

spjalla
spjallþráður

Old Norse

FWOTD – 28 April 2014

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *spellą (“news, message, tale”). Cognate with Old English spel, spell, Old Saxon spel, Old High German spel, Gothic 𐍃𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻 (spill). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spel- (“to tell”).

Pronunciation

(12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈspjɑlː/

Noun

spjall n (genitive spjalls, plural spjǫll)

saying, tale
- Skáld-Helga Rímur: fjorda rima, verse 10, line 2, in 1838, Grønlands Historiske Mindesmærker, Volume II. Copenhagen, page 147:
  […] ok hefr svá margt í spjalli; […]
  […] and has so many things to tell; […]
(poetic, especially in the plural) words, tales, tidings
- Vǫluspá, verse 1, lines 7-8, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 1:
  […] forn spjöll fíra, / þau er fremst um man.
  […] old tales of men / the first I remember.

Declension

Declension of spjall (strong a-stem)

neuter	singular		plural
neuter	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spjall	spjallit	spjǫll	spjǫllin
accusative	spjall	spjallit	spjǫll	spjǫllin
dative	spjalli	spjallinu	spjǫllum	spjǫllunum
genitive	spjalls	spjallsins	spjalla	spjallanna

Derived terms

Terms derived from spjall

andspjall (“answer”)
féspjǫll (“'fee-spells'”)
spjalla (“to talk”)
spjalli (“friend”)

spjallr (“spoken”)
guðspjall (“gospel”)
móðug spjǫll (“lamentations”)
ný spjǫll (“news”)

Descendants

Icelandic: spjall n

References

spjall in Geir T. Zoëga (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press
spjall in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
spjall in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.