spjall

See also: spjäll

Icelandic

Etymology

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

Noun

spjall n (genitive singular spjalls, nominative plural spjöll)

1. talk, gossip

Declension

Declension of spjall (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	spjall	spjallið	spjöll	spjöllin
accusative	spjall	spjallið	spjöll	spjöllin
dative	spjalli	spjallinu	spjöllum	spjöllunum
genitive	spjalls	spjallsins	spjalla	spjallanna

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 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)

1. 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; […]

2. (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
	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

• andspjall (“answer”)
• féspjǫll (“'fee-spells'”)
• guðspjall (“gospel”)
• móðug spjǫll (“lamentations”)
• ný spjǫll (“news”)
• spjalla (“to talk”)
• spjalli (“friend”)
• spjallr (“spoken”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: spjall n
• Old Swedish: spiäl
  • Swedish: spjäll

Further reading

• Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon (1874) “spjall”, in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1st edition, Oxford: Oxford Clarendon Press, page 583
• Zoëga, Geir T. (1910) “spjall”, in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, page 399; also available at the Internet Archive