Etymology of Skye

The etymology of Skye attempts to understand the derivation of the name of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Skye's history includes the influence of Gaelic, Norse and English speaking peoples, and the relationships between their names for the island are not straightforward. Ultimately, like other Scottish locations as Islay, Lewis and Arran, the origin of the name is still debated and may be impossible to discern with all known evidence.

Details

The Gaelic name for the "Isle of Skye" is ''An t-Eilean Sgitheanach'' (or ''Sgiathanach'', a more recent and less common spelling). The meaning of this name is not clear. Various etymologies have been proposed, such as the "winged isle" or "the notched isle", but no definitive solution has been found to date and the placename may be from a yet-unknown substratum language and thus simply opaque.

For example, writing in 1549, Donald Munro, High Dean of the Isles wrote: "This Ile is callit ''Ellan Skiannach'' in Irish, that is to say in Inglish the wyngit Ile, be reason it has mony wyngis and pointis lyand furth fra it, throw the dividing of thir foirsaid Lochis".

This was by no means the first written reference. Roman sources refer to the ''Scitis'' (see the Ravenna Cosmography) and ''Scetis'' can be found on a map by Ptolemy. A possible derivation from '' *skitis'', an early Celtic word for "winged", which may describe the island's peninsulas that radiate out from a mountainous centre, has also been suggested.

In the Norse sagas Skye is called ''Skíð'', for example in the ''Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar'', and in a skaldic poem in ''Saga Magnús konungs berfœtts'' in the ''Heimskringla'' from c. 1230. According to other authors, it was referred to in Norse as "misty isle", , or "cloud isle".Murray (1966) ''The Hebrides''. p. 146. It is not certain whether the Gaelic poetic name for the island, ''Eilean a' Cheò'' "isle of the mist" precedes or postdates the Norse name. Some legends also associate the isle with the mythic figure of the warrior Scáthach.

The problems with the proposed Gaelic etymologies can be summed up as follows. Firstly, the Gaelic word for "winged" is ''sgiathach'' and ''sgiathanach'' is not attested in Gaelic except in the place name and the ethnonym ''Sgiathanach'' "person from Skye". Secondly, the recorded pronunciations all point towards a clear preceding the ''-ach'' ending: , , or . This means the form ''Sgiathanach'' is very unlikely to be based on the Gaelic plural of "wing" (''sgiathan''), which contains a schwa in the last syllable () and would represent a highly unusual adjectival form based on a plural noun. Thirdly, the diminutive/ nominaliser ending ''-an'' would result in , with a clear in the last syllable. This form ''sciathán'' or ''sgiathan'' is indeed attested in the modern Gaelic languages. The Old Irish attested form is ''scíath'' (cognate with modern Welsh ''ysgwydd'' "shoulder") with a reconstructed Celtic form *-, which suggests the Irish form ''sgiathán'' is an innovation and an unlikely root for ''Sgiathanach''. Finally, deriving the name from ''Scáthach'' involves two main problems: there would be a case of unexplained palatalisation of ̪kto ̪kʲand an unexplained extra element ''-an-''.

The roots of the Roman and Greek forms, ''Scit-'' and ''Scet-'' (meaning unknown), could be the root of ''Sgitheanach'' as they would regularly develop into Old Gaelic ̪gʲiθ-and be an entirely logical source for the attested Norse ''Skíð''. It would also lead to modern ''Sgitheanach'' via a regular suffigation of ''-an'' and ''-ach'' to form an ethnonym and adjective. This would also explain the use of an apparent root form in The Minch (the strait separating the Outer Hebrides from the Inner Hebrides) and the older Irish form of ''Scíth'' rather than the modern ''An tOileán Sgiathanach'', for example: ''Do ṡiuḃal sé Scíṫ agus an dá Uiḃeast agus Beinn a’ Ṁaola...'' "He travelled Skye and the two Uists and Benbecula...". In this case the interpretation of the name as "winged" may simply be a case of folk etymology.For discussions of phonological development see Borgstrøm (1941), Oftedal, Magne (1956) ''The Gaelic of Leurbost''. Oslo. Norsk Tidskrift for Sprogvidenskap and McCone, Kim (ed) (1994) ''Stair na Gaeilge: In Ómós do Phádraig Ó Fiannachta''. Coláiste Phàdraig, Maigh Nuad. .

In April 2007 it was reported in the media that the island's official name had been changed by the Highland Council to ''Eilean a' Cheò''. However, the Council clarified that this name referred only to one of its 22 wards in the then impending election, and that there were no plans to change signage or discontinue the English name.

References

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