ONlwSG

cuidhteag f. [ˈkʰəiʰtʲaɡ̊], gen. cuidhteige -[æɡ̊ʲə], -[ɛɡ̊ʲə], ‘whiting, Merlangius merlangus’. Christiansen (1938, 4, 13) takes the spelling form caiteag 

In a Scottish Gaelic text written in an unconventional orthography.

to be for Dwelly’s (1911) cuiteag, which he compares with ON hvítingr m. in the sense ‘whiting’ (NO). McDonald (2009, 366–67) considers the loan likely, although he suggests that caiteag may have arisen from confusion with SG caiteag ‘basket (for trout)’. However, Christiansen’s caiteag 

Also Forbes 1905, 40–41, 392.

is probably for SG caoiteag, 

Cf. Forbes 1905, 40–41, 392; Dwelly 1911: see cuiteag; MacLeod 2004, 54.

an occasional spelling of cuidhteag, 

Robertson 1907c, 264: Tha da bhall dubh air an adaig is earball fad air a’ chuidhteig [sic] ‘the haddock has two black spots, and the whiting a long tail’, Wester Ross; Dwelly 1911: for cuiteag, Wester Ross; Wentworth 2003, s.v. whiting: Wester Ross (Gairloch); Grannd 2013: North Sutherland; Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: East Sutherland (Embo), West Sutherland (Coigach). Ó Baoill (ibid. 183) notes that Farran (1946, 11) or his informant ‘must surely be wrong in listing cuidhteag as a Co. Galway word.’ Farran also lists Ir. cuitshach for ‘whiting’, after Forbes (1905, 392), but the form has not been traced. For the Irish form faoitín, see fn 15, below.

also found as caoideag, 

Dwelly 1911: see cuiteag.

cùidhteag, 

MacLennan 1925; Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: Mull.

cùiteag, 

MacDonald 1946, 18.

cùilteag, 

Dwelly 1911: for cuiteag, Wester Ross.

cuiteag 

Nicolson 1881, 356: Tha dà bhall dubh air an adaig, ’s earball fad’ air a’ chuiteig ‘the haddock has two black spots, and the whiting a long tail’; Forbes 1905, 40–41, 392; Garvie 1999, 84. Further, see the Table, below.

and cuideag, 

Forbes 1905, 40–41, 392; Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: Harris.

all of which are more likely to represent a relatively recent borrowing of Scots whitin [ˈʍəitɪn] ‘whiting’ (MScots quhiting), replacing native terms such as SG fionnag 

E.g. Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: Islay. Cf. Shaw 1780: feannog. For further on Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Manx forms of this word, see Ó Baoill 1994, 182–83.

and gealag, 

E.g. Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄, s.v. geallag: Coigach.

both formed from adjectives meaning ‘white’ (fionn, geal) + the suffix -ag.

SG cuidhteag etc. ‘whiting’

Notes: (a) /w/ is a frictionless bilabial glide [u̯] (Dorian ibid., 45); (b) With voiceless [j] (Borgstrøm ibid.); (c) ‘blue whiting’; (d) An aon ghoil air an dà chuiteig ‘two whitings boiled in the same way [i.e. six and half a dozen]’ (Campbell ibid.).

For Scots wh- /ʍ/ 

Although the spelling quh- may indicate a stronger aspiration (DSL: Phonetic description, §75). Indeed, the realisation of /ʍ/ in the early 17th century was [xʍ], according to Alexander Hume (Macafee and Aitken, §6.31.1), while Herbison, Robinson and Smyth (2013, 1–2) suggest that quh- originally indicated [kw].

yielding SG c- /k/ via back-formation, cf. MScots quhele ‘wheel’ > SG cuibhle (W. J. Watson 1929, 284: Eng. wheel 

S. Watson (1983, 103–04) suggests Eng. wheel > SG cuibhill, although cuibhill and cuibheall may be back-formations from cuibhle < MScots quhele *[ʍiːl] (Aitken 2002, 74; contrast modern Scots wheel [ʍil]).

), Eng. whinger (i.e. dagger) > SG cuinnsear (W. J. Watson 1930, 100) and Eng. whip > SG cuip (S. Watson 1983, 103).

Contrast the development to f- in Ir. faoitín ‘whiting’ < Eng. whiting (Ó Baoill 1994, 182–83), Ir. (Donegal) fuip < Eng. whip (S. Watson ibid.).

The rounding of Scots /ʍ/ is realised as a glide (Rows 1, 3–4), as a high back rounded vowel before a palatal glide (Rows 6–7), or as the first segment of a closing diphthong (Rows 5, 12–14, ?18, 19–21, 25–26). Scots medial t yields a (generally preaspirated, sometimes unaspirated) palatalised dental; for the interpolated l of cùilteag (Row 17), cf. Ir (19th c., Meath) fuiltainuidh pl. ‘fitens [whitings]’ (Beckett 1980, 164, although he suggests (p. 272) that it might be in error). Final Scots -in(g) is substituted with the Gaelic suffix -ag.

Cf. SG bànag ‘trout fry’ (bàn ‘white’) and leòbag ‘flounder etc.’ (leòb ‘hanging lip’).

SG cuidhteag etc. ‘little finger’

Notes: (e) W. J. Watson 1930, 98: caoiteag ‘forefinger’, Skye, 99: ‘little finger’, Eigg, 100: ‘caoiteag is pronounced just like cuidhteag “a whiting” ’; (f) ‘[C]uideag (a’ chuideag?) /ˈwhitʃɑk/ n.: “the little finger” (Grant 1987 I, 135), which might be expressed as */ˈhu̯itʃɑk/, i.e. for */(ə) ˈxu̯itʃɑk/ (ibid. 31).

The sense ‘little finger’ 

In one case (W. J. Watson 1930, 98: Skye) given as ‘forefinger’.

is found in Skye, Eigg, Islay, North Argyll and South Uist: caoiteag (Rows 29, 32), cuidhteag (Row 30), cuideag (Row 34), cuiteag (Row 33, 37–38), and cuisteag and cuisdeag (Rows 31, 35–36).

See also Shaw 1780: cuisdag; HSS 1828: cuisdeog; Dwelly 1911: cuisteag; MacBain 1911, MacLennan 1925 and An Stòr-Dàta 1993: cuisdeag. HSS cites O’Reilly’s (1817) Irish dictionary’s cuisdeog ‘little finger. While O’Reilly lists cuideog in the sense ‘spider’, his cuisdeog is probably adopted from Shaw.

The form cuisteag (cuisdeag) appears to be a development from cuiteag, with dialectal medial /tʃ/ yielding /ʃt´/ via metathesis, cf. SG buitseach > buisteach ‘witch’ (a loan-blend from Eng. witch). At face value, the sense ‘little finger’ appears to be an extension of the sense of ‘whiting’, but there may ultimately be a degree of conflation with SG cuideag in the sense ‘small portion or share’ (Dwelly 1911; AFB^˄), a diminutive of cuid (EG cuit).

?Cf. also SG caiteag ‘a small bit’ (McDonald 1972: South Uist).