ONlwSG

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tarfhsgeir 

The cluster rfh is written here in order to indicate the presence of stressed epenthesis (svarabhakti), fh itself being silent.

m. [ˈt̪ʰaɾ͡aʃkʲəɾʲ], 

For local realisations of stressed epenthesis in similar contexts, cf. SGDS Items 54 arbhar and 602 mharbhadh.

gen. idem., ‘a peat-spade, peat-knife, peat-cutter’ has a number of variant forms (A–E) represented by a variety of spellings; two similar, but etymologically distinct, forms are also listed (F–G).

A. SG toirfhsgeir, ta(i)rfhsgeir, teirfhsgeir
A 1. toirfhsgeir [ˈt̪ʰəɾʲ͡əʃkʲəɾʲ]
(i) toirbhsgeir (MacLennan 1925, s.v. toirpsgian: Lewis);
(ii) toirsgeir (AFB^˄: /tɤrʲɤʃgʲɪrʲ/, Lewis, West Sutherland, Skye, Raasay);
(iii) toirsgir (MacLennan 1925).

While the spelling toirbhsgeir (i) indicates the presence of stressed epenthesis, there is no evidence of a pronunciation *[ˈt̪ʰəɾʲ͡əvʃkʲəɾʲ]. For Magne Oftedal’s toirbhsgear, see under A 2.

Crawford’s 1963 note entitled ‘Examples of the Toirbhsgeir Tusker, or Peat Knife in Antiquity’ [sic] seeks to identify a number of implements found in Iron Age hoards in Roxburghshire and Berwickshire as peat-knives, and has no linguistic content.

A 2. tarfhsgeir, tairfhsgeir [ˈt̪ʰaɾ(ʲ)͡aʃkʲəɾʲ]
(i) tarfhsgeir (Mackenzie 1910, 386: tarbh-sgeir, Lewis; Christiansen 1938, 4, 19: tarasker, Lewis; Borgstrøm 1941, 164: toirsgian, 90–91: [tʿ[ɑrɑ] ʃkʹərʹ], Lewis; Oftedal 1953, 10: tarbh-sgeir; 1954, 403: [tɑrɑ̀ʃkʹəð], Lewis; and Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄, s.v. taraisgeir: Lewis and Harris;
(ii) tarfhsgear, with a non-palatal final -r (Oftedal 1956, 359: toirbhsgear, 105: /tɑrɑ̀ʃɡʹər/, Lewis; 1983: toirbhsgear; and LASID IV, 253, Item 562: [tarʹʹaʃḳʹerʰ], Lewis;
(iii) tairfhsgeir, with a palatal medial r (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄, s.v. tairisgeir, Lewis; and Grant 2013, s.v. peat-spade: tairisgeir, North Sutherland 

Mackay (1897, 94) lists SG toraisger [sic] in the sense ‘basket’ for Sutherland, for which he offers the unlikely derivation Ice. torf + ausker ‘peat scoop’ (cf. McDonald 2009, 423, who also considers the derivation unlikely). Mackay’s toraisger might be a variant of Grant’s tairisgeir, but, if so, the semantic development is unclear.

); also written tairsgeir (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: Lewis; An Stòr-Dàta 1993, s.v. peat-spade; and AFB^˄: /tarʲaʃgʲɪrʲ/, Lewis, Harris, North Uist, Skye);
(iv) tairgseir, with metathesis of sg, appears to be a fairly recent development; see, for example, Comann Eachdraidh Bharabhais agus Bhrù^˄ (so also AFB^˄: /tarʲagʲʃɪrʲ/ [sic]).

A 3. teirfhsgeir [ˈt̪ʲʰeɾʲ͡eʃkʲəɾʲ]
The form teireisgeir is recorded for Kintyre (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄).

B. Forms with variant endings
B 1. -ean
(i) ?-[ən] in M^cAlpine (1832: tairisgean 

M^cAlpine’s entry reads ‘tairisgean for toirpsgian “peat-spade, fat” ’, where fat may be a typesetting error for fal, ?an anglicised form of SG fàl, cf. ibid., s.v. fal [sic] in the sense ‘scythe, peat-spade’ (cf. Grant 1987 I, 162: fàl-mhonadh ‘peat-spade’).

), Robertson (1907a, 111: tairisgean; also 1908a, 79) and MacLennan (1925: tairisgean);
(ii) -[ən] may to some extent also be represented by the folk-etymological spelling -sgian, 

With -[ʃkˊən] understood to be a reduced form of SG sgian [s̪kˊĩə̃n] ‘knife’. See also toirpsgian (E).

found in Mac Farlan (1795: toirr-sgian), MacFarlane (1815: tairsgian), Armstrong (1825: idem), MacEachen (1842, s.v. tairisgein: toirsgian), Henderson (1910, 118: toir’sgian), MacBain (1896; 1911: toirsgian), Dwelly (1911: tairsgian, toirsgian (gen. toirsgéin), tòrr-sgian), MacLennan (1925: toirsgian), Dieckhoff (1932: toirsgian [tòRòːsgˈjen], Glengarry), Oftedal (1953, 106: torbh-sgian), An Stòr-Dàta (1993, s.v. peat-spade: toirsgian, torr-sgian), Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄ (tair-sgian, Gairloch; toirisgian, Barra; torra-sgian, Lochaber) and AFB^˄ (toirsgian /tɔrɔʃgʲən/, Mull, Argyll, Raasay, the mainland opposite Skye, Wester Ross; tairsgian, Lewis, Harris, Skye, Wester Ross; troighsgian, Harris; toirsgian Ghallach ‘a one-man peat-knife’ and toirsgian-mhór ‘a two-man peat-knife’, West Sutherland); 

Kennedy (1897, 131) records toraicinn for Arran. While conceivably a typesetting error for *toraiscinn, i.e. *toraisginn, Dwelly (1911) describes toraicinn as ‘Arran for toirsgian’. An alternative Arran form might have been *toraistinn, with st for sg, cf. SG (Arran) brist for brisg ‘brittle’, dùist for dùisg ‘to wake’, loist for loisg ‘to burn’ and uiste for uisge ‘water’, although Sasgann (for Sasann ‘England’, < OG Saxain (Sacsain)) survives (Robertson 1908a, 335).


(iii) -[an] (LASID IV, 222, Item 562: [tǫrɪʃḳʹɑn], Mid-Argyll).

B 2. -inn, -in
(i) -inn (Borgstrøm 1941, 90–91: [tʿ[ɔrɔ] ʃkʹiNʹ], Wester Ross: Applecross, Red Point, Aultbea, Ullapool; Wentworth 2003a, s.v. peat-knife: toirsginn [tʰ[ɔrɔ] ʃk’iN’], Wester Ross: Gairloch; Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: toirbhsginn, Ardnamurchan);
(ii) -in (Wentworth 2003a, s.v. peat-knife: toirsgean (?toirsgian) [tʰ[ɔrɔ] ʃk’in], [tʰ[ɔrɔ] ʃk’ɪn], Wester Ross: Gairloch);
(iii) either -inn or -in may also be indicated by the spelling tairisgein (HSS 1828; MacEachen 1842; Dwelly 1911: tairisgein, tarraisgein).

B 3. -il
(i) -il is recorded by HSS (1828: tairisgil), Robertson (1907a, 111, and 1908a, 79: torrasgil, Sutherland), Dwelly (1911: tairisgil, torrasgil) and Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄ (toirbhsgil, Skye);
(ii) -eil is given by Grant (2013, s.v. peat-spade: tairisgeil, North-West Sutherland) and may intend -[il]; however, AFB^˄ gives tairsgeil /tarʲaʃgal/ [sic] for North and West Sutherland, Wester Ross and Skye, perhaps on a presumption of homophony with the adjectival suffix -eil/-ail -[al].

C. Forms with metathesis of r
C 1. SG tòirsginn, tòirsgean
(i) tòirsginn is recorded by Borgstrøm (1941, 90–91: [tʿɔːʂkʹiNʹ], Duirinish (Lochalsh);
(ii) tòirsgean is recorded by LASID (IV, 267, Item 562: [tɔːṛṣkʹən], Wester Ross; and 276, Item 562: [tɔ.rʃ ^kʹən ˈɣɑLɑ̆x] ‘a one-man spade’, [tɔ.rʃḳʹən voːr] ‘a two-man spade’, Sutherland).

C 2. SG troidhsgeir
This form is recorded by Borgstrøm (1941, 90–91: [tʿr[øi] ʃkʹirʹ], Benbecula), LASID (IV, 234, Item 562: [trøiʃḳʹerʹh], Benbecula), McDonald (1972, s.v. tréisgir: traoisgeir (pronounced like caoimhneas), South Uist), Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄ (troighsgeir, Skye), AFB^˄ (troighsgeir /trɤiʃgʲerʲ/, Bernera (Harris), North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist, Skye) and An Stòr-Dàta (1993, s.v. peat-spade: troighsgeir).

C 3. SG trèisgeir
(i) trèisgir is recorded by Borgstrøm (1941, 90–91: [tʿreːʃkʹirʹ], South Uist, Barra) and McDonald (1972: tréisgir, South Uist);
(ii) treisgir is written by Goodrich-Freer (1897, 67: treisgiv [sic], Eriskay and South Uist) and Caimbeul (1982, 29: Barra 

’Sann leis an treisgir a bhathar a’ gearradh nam fàdan [sic] [They cut the peats with the treisgir].

), but treisgeir by Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄ (s.v. treisgeir, for Barra, and ceum-na-treisgeir, for South Uist 

But note the comment under toirisgian, for Barra: ‘[the] equivalent of “trèisgeir” ’.

) and AFB^˄ (treisgeir: North Uist, Barra).

D. SG torfhsg’ *[̩t̪ʰɔɾ͡ɔʃkʲ], and torfhaisg *[̩t̪ʰɔɾ͡ɔ-əʃkʲ] or *[̩t̪ʰɔɾ͡ɔ-iʃkʲ]
These forms may be suggested by
(i) toirr’sg (Henderson 1910, 118 

Henderson explains that ‘the sound indicates a letter has been dropped between r and s’.

);
(ii) tor(bh)aisg (MacLennan 1925, s.v. toirpsgian: Easter Ross).

E. toirpsgian
The form toirpsgian appears in M^cAlpine (1832: [tǒėrpˊ-skěǎn], Islay), MacBain (1896; 1911), Henderson (1910, 118), Dwelly (1911: toirp-sgian), MacLennan (1925) and Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄ (Lewis; so also AFB^˄).

F. SG tosg
In the sense ‘peat-spade’, 

In MacFarlane (1815, s.v. (pl.) tosgan) in the sense ‘slashes, cuts’, and in Armstrong (1825, s.v. tosg) in the sense ‘gash, cut’.

in MacBain (1896; 1911), Henderson (1910, 118), Dwelly (1911), MacEachen (4th edn, 1922), MacLennan (1925) and AFB^˄ (/tɔsg/).

G. SG taireasg, toireasg, tuireasg
With variation in the quality of medial r and final sg:
(i) tairisce (Shaw 1780: ‘file’);
(ii) tairiosg (HSS 1828: ‘saw’; MacBain 1911: ‘idem’);
(iii) taireasg (Mac Farlan 1795: ‘peat-spade’; MacFarlane 1815: ‘idem’; Armstrong 1825: ‘a spade for cutting turf; file; saw’; HSS 1828: see tairisgein; Dwelly 1911: see tuireasg and toirsgian);
(iv) toirisg (MacFarlane 1815: ‘saw’);
(v) toiriosg (MacDomhnaill 1741, 49: ‘saw’; Shaw 1780: ‘idem’; HSS 1828: ‘idem’);
(vi) toireasg (Dwelly 1911: see tuireasg);
(vii) tuirisge (Dwelly 1911: see tuireasg);
(viii) tuiriosg (Dwelly 1911: see tuireasg);
(ix) tuireasg (Dwelly 1911: ‘saw; file; axe’; AFB^˄: ‘saw’, Benbecula);
(x) turasg (Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄: ‘saw’).

SG tarfhsgeir, or at least certain of its variant forms (A–D), is derived from ON torf-skeri m. ‘idem’ (NO), 

E.g. Goodrich-Freer (1897, 67, who notes Fr Allan McDonald’s derivation of SG treisgiv [sic] from Old Norse); Mackenzie (1910, 386: SG tarbh-sgeir < ON torf-skerri [sic]); MacLennan (1925, s.v. toirpsgian: SG toirbhsgeir); Christiansen (1938, 4, 19: SG tarasker; so also de Vries 1962); Borgstrøm (1941, 90–91: SG [tʿ[ɑrɑ] ʃkʹərʹ]); Oftedal (1953, 10: SG tarbh-sgeir, torbh-sgian; 1954, 403: SG [tɑrɑ̀ʃkʹəð]; 1956, 359: SG toirbhsgear, 105: /tɑrɑ̀ʃɡ’ər/; 1983 toirbhsgear < ON torfskera acc.); McDonald (1972, s.v. tréisgir, whose editor John Lorne Campbell derives SG toirsgian from ON torf-skeri); Stewart (2004, 416: SG toirbhsger); and McDonald (2009, 423).

which also gives Scots tusker, tuskar, tushkar (SND^˄). A number of authorities or commentators, however, imply or suggest that certain variants derive from a compound of ON torf nt. ‘turf’ + SG sgian ‘knife’ (further, see below).

E.g. M^cAlpine (1832: ‘tairisgean for toirpsgian’); MacEachen (1842: ‘tairisgein, rather toirsgian’); Craigie (1894, 159: SG tairisgein, toirsgein < ON torf + SG sgian); Henderson (1910, 118: SG toirr’sg, toir’sgian or toirpsgian < ON torf + SG sgian, ‘hence a hybrid for ON torf-skeri’); and MacBain (1896; 1911: toirsgian, toirpsgian < ON torf + SG sgian; so MacLennan 1925, s.v. toirpsgian). McDonald (2009, 423), on the other hand, sees SG -sgian replacing ON -skeri; cf. Borgstrøm (1941, 90–91), who sees [tʿ[ɔrɔ] ʃkʹiNʹ] (B 2(i)) as perhaps contaminated with sgian ‘or else the final [Nʹ] may be due to dissimilation’.

ON torf-skeri might be expected to yield SG *torfhsgeir *[ˈt̪ʰɔɾ͡ɔʃkʲəɾʲ] in the first instance, with apocope and with the development of stressed epenthesis (svarabhakti) prior to the loss of the fricative before s, which in turn yields tarfhsgeir (A 2(i)) as a result of a ~ o alternation, and toirfhsgeir (A 1), tairfhsgeir (A 2(ii)) and teirfhsgeir (A 3) as a result of retrogressive palatalisation. Final -sgeir undergoes a range of transformations in Scottish Gaelic, with final -r yielding -l (B 3) or -n or -nn (B 1–B 2), either by dissimilation 

So Robertson 1907a, 111, and 1908a, 79: ‘torrasgil for toirsgean’.

or by association with SG sgian ‘knife’ or its dative form sgithinn.

With Scottish Gaelic forms in -sgian and -sgil yielding MScots torsken (DOST^˄) and Scots turskill (SND^˄, s.v. tusker), respectively.

The final syllable has a range of vowel qualities: nominally original SG [ə] yielding [i] or [ɪ] (B 2) perhaps in the first instance as a reduced form of sgian or sgithinn; [e] (A 2(ii)) perhaps by conflation with SG sgeir ‘skerry’, q.v.; and [a] (B 1(iii)) by association with the diminutive suffix -an -[an]. Further, the initial syllable undergoes change through metathesis of r, with the original epenthetic sequence [VɾV] yielding either [V̅ɾ] (tòirsginn, tòirsgean (C 1)) or [ɾV̅] (troidhsgeir, with a diphthong (C 2), or trèisgeir, with a long monophthong (C 3)).

For troidhsgeir and trèisgeir, Borgstrøm (1941, 90–91) compares the metathesis in ON þorsk acc. m. > SG trosg ‘cod’, q.v. However, he explains tròisginn through ‘early loss of f (torfs > torrs-)’.

(For torfhsg’, torfhaisg (D), see below.)

SG toirpsgian (E) is probably the result of folk etymology, initiated (or at least first recorded) by M^cAlpine (1832), perseverated by MacBain (1896; 1911), Henderson (1910, 118), Dwelly (1911) and MacLennan (1925), and repeated in Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄ 

Faclan bhon t-Sluagh^˄’s entry, however, is doubtful: in the Maorach/Shellfish category and under the subtitle ‘Beathaichean eile a gheibhear ’sa’ chladach’ [Other creatures found on the shore], listed by or against the Uig (Lewis) informant are the forms toirpsgian, toirsgir, toirbhsgir and toirbhsgear, each of which is given its own ‘shellfish-related’ entry, although only the toirbhsgear entry is glossed (albeit obscurely): ‘ann an Leodhas ruidegin mar “is mairg dhaibh” ’ [sic] [in Lewis something like ‘pity them’]). However, these forms seem to have been listed out of place; cf. ibid., s.v. a’ leagail agus a’ tilgeil: dithis mu’n toirbhsgear [cutting and throwing: two people per peat-spade], and s.v. iarunn: ainm eile air toirbhsgear ... [iron: another name for a toirbhsgear ...] – both entries contributed by the same Uig informant but appearing in the Mòine/Peat-working category.

(so also AFB^˄), and ostensibly consisting of a compound of SG toirp + sgian. However, SG toirp ‘sod, divot; thick person’ is probably related to Ir. torp, torpa ‘clump, clod; lumpish thing’ (Ó Dónaill 1977) and not connected with ON torf nt. ‘turf, sod’, s.v. toirp. Indeed, SG toirpsgian may never have been an authentic form and may, in effect, be a ghost word; at any rate, M^cAlpine’s [tǒėrpˊ-skěǎn] suggests a spelling pronunciation.

SG tosg (F) is derived by MacBain (1896; 1911; so also Henderson 1910, 118) from Scots (Banff) tusk-spawd, with Scots tusk in the sense ‘projecting wing on the blade of a peat-spade which makes the side-cut’ (SND^˄, s.v. ²tusk I.2) + spade; by MacLennan (1925) from Scots tusk.

For SG taireasg, toireasg etc. (G), cf. Ir. toireasc ‘saw’, both of which go back to OG turesc ‘idem’ (eDIL^˄). For the semantic extension from ‘saw’ to ‘peat-spade’ in Scottish Gaelic, cf. Ir. sleaghán in the sense ‘peat-spade’ < EG sleġ ‘javelin, spear, lance’ (eDIL^˄).

SG torfhsg’, torfhaisg (D), the loss of whose final syllable is otherwise unexplained, is conceivably the result of conflation between SG *torfhsgeir (< ON torf-skeri) and SG toireasg (< OG turesc).