ONlwSG

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langaid f. [ˈɫ̪ɑ̃ŋɡ̊ad̥ʲ], gen. langaide -[ə], ‘a fetter for a horse; a fetter between the fore and hind legs of a horse’ has a number of associated forms in Early Gaelic, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx.

A. EG laingfitir, Ir. langfeitir, SG langfethir

Notes: a. ‘A name for a fetter that goes between the foreleg and hind leg of horses’; b. ‘A name for a fetter that goes between the foreleg and hind leg of a horse’.

The 9th-century Sanas Cormaic reads (from the Yellow Book of Lecan version) Langp[h]eitir .i. anglis insein. lang .i. fata pheitir immorro glas. Langphetir didiu .i. glas fota .i. itir cois n-iartair ⁊ cois n-airthir biis. Non sic aurcomal .i. auraccomal .i. itir da cois n-airtir biis (Early Irish Glossaries Database^˄: Y.812, col. 54) ‘langp[h]eitir: that is English, with lang “long” and pheitir “fetter”; langphetir then is a long fetter that goes between hind leg and foreleg; [this is] not the same as aurc[h]oṁal [Ir. urchall “spancel”] ..., which goes between the two forelegs’.

Contrast the Leabhar Breac version, which has Langfiter .i. ainglaiss (ł ainglis) indsin. lang fota. feitir .i. glas na nGall, urchomul. langfiter .i. glas fota bís iter chosa cinn ⁊ cos[a] tóna. non síc urchomul ... iter di chois chind in eich bís (Early Irish Glossaries Database^˄: B.461, p. 268b) ‘langfiter: that is English, with lang “long” and feitir “the fetter of the foreigners, urchoṁul ”; langfiter is a long fetter that goes between the forelegs and hind legs; [this is] not the same as urchoṁul, which goes between the two forelegs of the horse’, whose na nGall ‘of the foreigners’ Marstrander (1915a, 25) argues must be a late 12th-century addition, at the least, i.e. following the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland.

The initial of the second element of EG laingfitir is orthographically f or ph, both for /f´/ [f ^j]. The CIH (II, 386.5) form langḟithil has lenited ḟ [= zero], but this may be the result of confusion, with ḟ written for ṗ (i.e. ph); for the final of langḟithil, see below. O’Brien’s (1768) Ir. langfethir is likely to be a copying error for langfetir or langphetir; at any rate, O’Brien’s langfethir was adopted by Shaw (1780) for his own dictionary, although it is a ghost word in Scottish Gaelic.

Stokes (1868, 101) derives EG laingfitir from OEng. fetor, feter ‘fetter’ or, in consequence of CIH’s (II, 386.5) langḟithil, from OEng. fetel ‘girdle, belt’. Marstrander (1915a, 23–27 

Translated into French in Sommerfelt 1922, 182–86.

) argues that EG laingfitir goes back to an ON *lang-fjǫturr m. ‘long fetter’, claiming that langḟithil shows that there was contamination between ON fjǫturr and ON fetill m. ‘shoulder strap, sling’. While McDonald (2009, 381) considers a Norse provenance for EG laingfitir to be uncertain, Pokorny (1921, 119) and Greene (1976, 76), however, are dismissive of Marstrander’s thesis and support an Old English derivation.

EG laingfitir is a plausible outcome from OEng. lang ‘long’ + feter ‘a fetter, a chain for the feet’ (Bosworth Toller^˄; cf. MEng. feter ‘a shackle or fetter, esp. a foot shackle; a horse shackle or hobble’ (MED^˄)), cf. W llyffethair, llawethair ‘fetter, shackle, hobble etc.’, tentatively derived from OEng. lang + feter also (GPC^˄). There is certainly no compelling reason to assume that the Early Gaelic word was borrowed from Old Norse. As for the final of langḟithil, it is perhaps questionable to place much weight upon a form that contains two other anomalies besides.

B 1. Ir. langal, lancal, laingeal

B 2. Ir. (langaire), loncaird/loncairt; SG langar, langair, langaire

Notes: a. With a mistypesetting of foam for ſoam (i.e. soam ‘a rope or chain attaching a draught-horse or other animal to a wagon, plough etc.; a trace-rope’ (OED^˄)); b. Leg. soam; c. Armstrong compares Ir. lang-fethir (see under A, above); d. Armstrong compares Ir. langair, but this should read langaire, after O’Reilly 1817.

Derivatives: SG langrach (MacLennan 1925), with the adjectival suffix -ach.

B 3. Ir. laincide; SG langaid; Mx langeid

Notes: a. Which Dinneen equates with ≈‘early lang-fhitir Eng. long-fetter, laing-fhidil (Laws)’ (see A, above); b. Who compares Cormac’s langpheitir (see A, above); c. Anglo-Manx lankat, lanket ‘a shackle for an animal from hind to front leg’ (Moore 1924).

Derivatives: SG langaideach (Armstrong 1825; HSS 1828; Dwelly 1911) and Mx langeidagh (Y Kelly 1866), with adjectival suffixes going back to EG -ach.

Stokes (1868, 101) assumes that SG langaid and Mx langeid (B 3) go back to EG laingfitir (A) from OEng. lang + feter. However, Marstrander (1915a, 23–27) derives Ir. langaid, langaide, laincide, SG langaid and Mx langeid (B 3), 

Mx langeid is also listed as an Old Norse loan-word in Marstrander 1932, 265.

as well as Ir. langal (B 1), from an ON *land-helda ‘long hold or fastening’, 

So also McDonald (2009, 381).

further suggesting that SG langar and langaire (B 2) may also derive from a compound in ON lang-. Similarly, Sommerfelt (1949, 234) derives Ir. laingeal (B 1) from ‘Norwegian’ *lang-helda, after Marstrander. In addition, Marstrander (ibid.) implies that Ir. lonncaidir and lonncairt (B 2) go back to EG laingfitir from ON *lang-fjǫturr. Meanwhile, MacBain (1911) equates SG langaid and langar ‘fetter(s)’ with Ir. langfethir and EG laingfitir, but, while noting Cormac’s assertion that laingfitir is an English word, derives SG langaid from Scots langet, langelt ‘hobble’.

Ir. langal, lancal and laingeal (B 1) probably go back to MEng. langald ‘a rope or fetter used to hobble or fetter cattle or horses, a hobble’ (< MEng. lōng ‘long’ + hōld ‘grasp, grip’ (MED^˄), cf. 1700s langel(l), 1700s, 1800s dial. langle (OED^˄), also langal, longel (EDDo^˄) 

OED^˄ opines that Eng. langle appears to point to an OFr. *langle, *lengle, from Lat. lingula ‘thong, strap’, diminutive of lingua ‘tongue’.

); cf. Ulster-Scots langle, langel, lanyell, lengel ‘a tether used to hobble an animal’ (Macafee 1996), and Hiberno-English langle ‘a fetter, often a strip of sacking, for farm animals, especially sheep’ (Dolan 2020 

Which he derives from MEng. lang + hold ‘long hold’.

).

SG langar (B 2) is conceivably the Scottish Gaelic equivalent of Ir. langal (B 1), with final -r for -l via differentiation, 

As suggested by Matheson (1948, 63–64).

although note Eng. dial. (Lincolnshire, Pembrokeshire) lonker, loncer ‘a shackle with which to hobble animals’, but which is compared with Dan. lœnker ‘shackles’ in EDDo^˄. Assuming this is correct, SG langar yields langair and langaire by virtue of alternative (agentive) suffixes. Ir. langaire, however, seems to be a ghost word and to have been adopted from Scottish Gaelic. Ir. loncaird and loncairt may be developments from *loncar, cf. Ir. grampairt ‘large sea creature’ for grampar (Ó Curnáin 2007 I, 266: Connacht), or from langaid. Ir. lonncaidir may be a metathesised form of loncaird, rather than have anything to do (along with Dinneen’s lonncairt) with EG laingfitir (A), as Marstrander (1915a, 23) implies.

SG langaid (B 3), however, probably goes back to MScots langet ‘a kind of hobble for a horse or other animal: a tether, or rope, by which the fore and hinder feet of a horse or cow are fastened together; properly, a rope binding the fore foot of a horse to a hinder one, to prevent him from running off’ (< MEng. langald (DOST^˄, s.v. langald)); cf. also Scots langett; -let, -elt; lengel ‘a tether or rope, generally with two slip-knots, used to bind two feet of an animal together to prevent it kicking or straying, a hobble’ (SND^˄, s.v. langle 

≈‘[P]robably ultimately of Norse origin, cf. Norw. dial. langhelda “idem” ’, ?after Marstrander 1915a, 26.

). Ir. langaid, langaide, laincide and Mx langeid, on the other hand, probably goes back to northern MEng. langett.

Contrast Eng. languet ‘any of various objects shaped like a tongue’, which is derived from AN langette ‘little tongue’ (OED^˄), and whose entry includes the sense (3.b.) ‘Scottish, English regional (northern), and (esp. in later use) Manx English. A type of fetter for an animal’ (citing the forms langet(t), langket, lanket). However, the senses ‘tongue-shaped object’ and ‘fetter’ seem likely to have separate etymons, the former AN langette, the latter northern MEng. langett (< langald).

C. Alternative endings
A number of alternative endings or suffixes appear to occur within the target languages themselves:

C 1. Ir. laincis; SG langais

Derivatives: as a variant of langais ‘towing-rope’, MacDomhnuill (1741, 111) gives ball langaistiche, with ball ‘article, item’ + langaistiche (with the nominal suffix -iche and intrusive t) in genitive position in the sense ‘towing’. Note also SG langaisich with the verbal suffix -ich (Dwelly 1911) and the verbal noun langaiseachadh (ibid.; MacBain 1911).

SG langasaid ‘chain tether of a horse’ (Dwelly App.) seems to be an adaptation of langais from confusion with SG langasaid ‘sofa, settee’ (< MScots lang-seit (DOST^˄)); cf. SG langar (B 2), which is given as ‘sofa, fetters’ in M^cAlpine 1832.

Marstrander (1915a, 27) derives Ir. laincis and SG langais from an ON *lang-festr ‘long rope’, 

Lucas (1968, 18) also derives Ir. laincis from Old Norse, but without further explanation.

so also Matheson (CG VI, 94) SG langais.

McDonald (2099, 381) considers both derivations likely.

Ir. laincis and SG langais are possibly variants of Ir. laincide and SG langaid (B 3). The source of the ending /iʃ/ is unknown, but it may go back to an English and/or Scots plural form, e.g. langels or langets.

C 2. Ir. laingín; Mx *lankane

Mx lankaneyn pl. goes back to *lankane, with second-syllable stress following a first syllable ending in a heavy consonant group. Ir. laingín and Mx *lankane contain nominally diminutive suffixes that go back to EG -ín (-én) and -án, respectively.

C 3. (i) SG langadan

C 3. (ii) SG langadar

Notes: a. Cf. SG duidhean ‘the stem of langadar’ (Dwelly 1911), ‘the foot/holdfast of kelp’ (AFB^˄); b. ‘tangle’; c. Rhŷs (1901 I, 51) gives Anglo-Manx lanketer, but this is probably in error for Anglo-Manx lanket (see under B 3, Note (c), above), from confusion with Cormac’s langfiter (A).

C 3. (iii) SG langadal

Note: a. ‘tangle’.

C 3. (iv) SG laingeadal

SG langadar (C 3. (ii)) is derived from ON lang + tre [leg. tré] nt. ‘long tree’ by MacLennan (1925; so also Stewart 2004, 410); tentatively from ON lang-fetill ‘long string’ by Borgstrøm (1940, 77) and Oftedal (1956, 139 

But who later (1962a, 120) prefers a derivation from ON *langþari m. ‘long-seaweed’. Mackenzie (1910, 384) initially suggests a derivation from an ON *lang-oddi-vara [sic] ‘long-pointed-ware’ (but which Christiansen (1928, 3, 11–12) describes as ‘lite rimelig’ (not very reasonable)), later from ON langatré ‘long tree’.

), as is SG langadair by Matheson (1948, 63–64) and SG langadal (iii) by Borgstrøm (1937, 112). SG laidul and langhadal (iv) are derived from ON langa [leg. lang] ‘long’ + þöngull [leg. þǫngull] m. ‘the stem of tangle’ by Henderson (1910, 147).

McDonald (2009, 380–81) considers a derivation of SG laidal [sic] and langhadal (after Henderson) and langadar from ON langa + þǫngull, langr + tre and/or langr+ [sic] to be likely, without being more specific. He cites Cox (1991, 490) as arguing that place-name evidence from Lewis suggests an Old Norse derivation, whereas Cox is in fact pointing out something entirely different: that Old Norse loan-names in Scottish Gaelic such as Steinn Langa and Lidh Langa (p. 489) do not provide evidence to show that the Old Norse adjective langr was borrowed into Gaelic.

Henderson’s laidul may represent (Oldshore, West Sutherland) laingeadal *[ˈɫ̪ãĩ(-ə)d̪̥əɫ̪] or similar, cf. SG aingeal [ˈãĩ-ɪl] ‘angel’ (cf. SGDS Item 15, Point 132), while Faclan bhon t-Sluagh’s laig[e]adal suggests (Stoer, West Sutherland) *[ˈɫ̪ãĩɡ̊ʲəd̪̥əɫ̪] or similar, cf. SG faing [fãĩɡ̊ʲ], q.v. (cf. SGDS Item 395, Point 129).

Faclan bhon t-Sluagh’s entry includes parenthetically ‘(traigh “laingadal” [sic])’, without further explanation: traigh is presumably for SG tràigh ‘beach, shore’, while laingadal is in genitive position, together perhaps referring to ‘a shore area where laingeadal grows’.

Henderson’s (Lewis) langhadal seems to be in error for langadal.

SG langadan, langada(i)r, langada(i)l and laingeadal may all be based on MScots langet or Scots langett + a Gaelic suffix: (i) langadan *-[əd̪̥an] (with the diminutive suffix -an) is analogous to forms such as SG glacadan ‘repository’ (< SG glac), dearcadan ‘gazer’ (dearc) and bogadan ‘shaking’ (bog); (ii) langadar -[əd̪̥əɾ] (?with the collective suffix -ar (Thurneysen 1975, 170)) falls together on occasion with the agentive suffix -adair -[əd̥aɾʲ] (EG -atóir < Lat. -ator (ibid., 172)), as in SG breabadair ‘loom-worker, weaver’ (breab); (iii–iv) langadal -[əd̪̥əɫ̪], also langadail *-[əd̪̥əl], may be a variant of langadar (ii), cf. SG bruadal for bruadar ‘dream’ (Calder 1973, 69; Robertson 1904, 332); also laigeadal and laingeadal (with reduction and vocalisation of ng, respectively).

C 4. Ir. langach

For the sense ‘seaweed’, Dinneen compares Ir. langach with SG langadar (C 3(ii)); for the suffix -ach, cf. Ir. ruálach (ruánach) ‘sea-laces, Chorda filum’ (An Roinn Oideachais 1978, 39.649).

In summary, it seems probable that EG laingfeter goes back to OEng. lang-feter, while Ir. langal, lancal, laingeal, and perhaps SG langar via differentiation (which in turn yields langair and langaire), go back to MEng. langald. SG langaid, however, goes back to MScots langet or Scots langett, and Ir. langaid, langaide, laincide and Mx langeid probably to northern MEng. langett (variants of MEng. langald). Meanwhile, Ir. loncaird and loncairt may derive from an Ir. *loncar (the equivalent of SG langar) or laincide, in turn yielding Ir. loncaidir via metathesis. Further adaptation within the target languages sees the substitution of alternative endings or suffixes, yielding SG langadan, langada(i)r, langada(i)l and lai(n)geadal, and Ir. langach.

The above Early Gaelic, Irish, Scottish Gaelic and Manx forms refer primarily to ‘a hobble tying an animal’s foreleg to its hind leg (usually with reference to horses)’, more generally ‘a fetter or tether’; by extension, SG langa(i)r(e) also has the sense ‘soam: a rope or chain attaching a draught-horse or other animal to a wagon, plough etc.’, SG langais also has the sense ‘towing-rope’, while SG langada(i)r, langada(i)l, lai(n)geadal and Ir. langach refer to one or more varieties of ‘long seaweed’.