User:Profoundpaul

Profoundpaul

I am English but live in Denmark. Since learning to speak Danish I have become very interested in linguistic connections between English and Danish, both languages stemming from Old Norse.

English place names seem to be mostly of Danish origin or from other Scandinavian influence.

I was born in Crosby - my Danish wife told me that in Danish this place name means Town on the Crossroads. "By" in Danish (pronounced Boo means town or settlement) Landsby = Village. There are many place names in Britain ending in "by" - Grimsby

Ton as in Preston is another Danish name. Ton means a clearing and also a barrel. The English word ton ( a weight equal to the amount of earth which will fill a barrel. The earth from the clearing)

Thorp is from Old Norse Torp also meaning a clearing - Grimethorpe

Wick is from the Old Norse Vik meaning an inlet from the sea. Wick is a town in Scotland situated on such an inlet. A Viking is a person who dwells on a Vik. There are many places in Britain with Wick as part of its place name. Shotwick on the Wirral.

Ham is from the Old Norse and Modern Swedish HAMN meaning haven. Copenhagen (København in Danish means trading harbour) in Swedish it is called Københamn - pronounced Schoppenhamn - the English word Shop is from Old Norse Køb

The Danish word for field or meadow is Eng and is pronounced Ing in Danish as it is in the word "England". Thus England means "The Land of Meadows" and not "Angle Land" ( Land of the Angles) as commonly assumed in England.

Ireland is a phonetic corruption of Egeland (Oakland). "Ege" means "oak" in modern Danish. Egeland is a common place name in Denmark and with the "g" being silent is pronounced something like "Earland". Ireland, therefore, does not mean "Land of the Irish" but, as named by the Danes (10th & 11th Century rulers of Ireland) Oakland".