I'd be grateful if anyone on this list could tell me the meaning of
the English dialectical word "girt". It seems to be a Somerset word:
I've encountered it in Somerset dialect folk tales recorded by Briggs
and Tongue, as for instance:
"Mind, he didn't never vorget tew leave hearth clean 'n a pail of
well water vor'n at night, 'n a girt dish o' scalt cream tew."
or
"And what do 'ee think -- arl there was was a girt twoad-stool."
Though I have no expertise in English dialects, all the above words
are clear to me except girt. Remarkably, even the OED doesn't seem to
give a meaning which fits under its several entries s.v. It's hard to
see how the word in this context could be the standard English word
meaning "encircled" or "bound up". Is this a dialectical form of some
common word which I'm just obtusely missing?
--
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Jon Corelis http://jcorelis.googlepages.com/joncorelis
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