ígða

See also: igda and igða

Faroese

prýðisígða - bullfinch (an invasion bird in the Faroes, which doesn't nest there)

Etymology

Old Norse igða (“a kind of a small bird[1] or marsh tit[2]”).

In earlier Faroese dictionaries (Færøsk Anthologi 1891, Føroysk-donsk orðabók 1961), the term is only described as a "certain kind of (singing) bird". In 1891 it was marked by a star * as obsolete word[3], and in 1961 was instead a mejse (“titmouse”)? added[4]. First the Føroysk orðabók 1998 gives it a second — zoological — meaning for the family Fringillidae (finches)[5], not endemic to the Faroes. [6]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): [ˈʊiːja]
Homophones: ía, ýa

Noun

ígða f (genitive singular ígðu, plural ígður)

(kvæði) small bird
finch (Fringillidae)

Usage notes

(kvæði) tað søgdu honum ígðurnar, uppi sita í lund - that told him the small birds, sitting up in the trees
"Brynhildar táttur" in: V. U. Hammershaimb: Færøiske Kvæder, Det nordiske Litteratur-Samfund, København 1851-55 (note the typo as "ígurnar" in the online transcript)

Declension

Declension of ígða
f1	singular		plural
f1	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ígða	ígðan	ígður	ígðurnar
accusative	ígðu	ígðuna	ígður	ígðurnar
dative	ígðu	ígðuni	ígðum	ígðunum
genitive	ígðu	ígðunnar	ígða	ígðanna

Derived terms

bókígða (chaffinch)
fjallígða (brambling)
gulígða (serin)
grønígða (greenfinch)
barrígða (siskin)
fagurígða (goldfinch)
línígða (linnet)
oyðuígða (trumpeter finch)
roðaígða (common rosefinch)
prýðisígða (bullfinch)

References

Føroya Fuglafrøðifelag (Faroe Islands Ornitholigy Society) FaroeNature.org - Fuglanøvn (all Faroese bird names, Latin, Faroese, English, Danish, German, Norwegian and Swedish)
Notes:

Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic‎, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Gerhard Köbler (2014), “Altnordisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse dictionary]”, in https://koeblergerhard.de (in German), 4th edition, igða
V. U. Hammershaimb: Færøsk Anthologi. Copenhagen 1891, 3rd edition Tórshavn 1991 (vol. 2, p. 137)
M. A Jacobsen, Christian Matras: Føroysk-donsk orðabók. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag 1961 (p. 189)
Jóhan Hendrik W. Poulsen, et al.: Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag 1998. (ígða)
Don Brandt: More Stamps & Story of the Faroe Islands Tórshavn: Postverk Føroya 2006, vol. 2, p. 291: "After 1990 the word ígða became associated with fringilline birds, some of whom occasionally visit the Faroe Islands but fail to nest, such as the crossbill and chaffinch; the latter bird’s name in Faroese is bókígða.".

[1] Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic‎, Oxford: Clarendon Press

[2] Gerhard Köbler (2014), “Altnordisches Wörterbuch [Old Norse dictionary]”, in https://koeblergerhard.de (in German), 4th edition, igða

[3] V. U. Hammershaimb: Færøsk Anthologi. Copenhagen 1891, 3rd edition Tórshavn 1991 (vol. 2, p. 137)

[4] M. A Jacobsen, Christian Matras: Føroysk-donsk orðabók. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag 1961 (p. 189)

[5] Jóhan Hendrik W. Poulsen, et al.: Føroysk orðabók. Tórshavn: Føroya Fróðskaparfelag 1998. (ígða)

[6] Don Brandt: More Stamps & Story of the Faroe Islands Tórshavn: Postverk Føroya 2006, vol. 2, p. 291: "After 1990 the word ígða became associated with fringilline birds, some of whom occasionally visit the Faroe Islands but fail to nest, such as the crossbill and chaffinch; the latter bird’s name in Faroese is bókígða.".