utchy
English edit
Etymology 1 edit
A modification of utch, ich, iche, from Middle English ich (“I”, pronoun),[1] from Old English iċ, iċċ (“I”, pronoun), from Proto-Germanic *ik, *ek (“I”, pronoun), from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂ (“I”). Doublet of che. Recorded in use in the area around Yeovil in southern Somerset.[2]
Alternative forms edit
Pronunciation edit
Pronoun edit
utchy
- (West Country, Somerset, obsolete, personal) I[3]
- What shall utchy do?
- 1869, James Jennings, The Dialect of the West of England: Particularly Somersetshire, page 69:
- [It is, manifestly, a corrupt pronunciation of Ich, or Ichè, pronounced as two syllables, the Anglo-Saxon word for I. What shall utchy do? What shall I do. I think Chaucer sometimes uses iche as a dissyllable; […] ]
- 1916, John Read, Latter-Lammas:
- [page 11:] As valled out, utchy come across en out to Clinkerbell Barn […]
[page 63:] Let utchy bide, cassen!
[page 81:] Only let en lay 's han' 'pon u t c h y! 'Ch'ill zmoor en doown! 'Ch'ill gie en the backzwrd cut!
Related terms edit
Etymology 2 edit
Unknown.[4]
Adjective edit
utchy (not comparable)
References edit
- ^ Jennings, James Knight (1869) “I, Ic, Ich, Iche, Utchy, Ise, C', Ch', Che, Ch'am, Ch'ud, Ch'll”, in The Dialect of the West of England, 2nd edition, London: John Russell Smith, pages 150–155
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ellis, Alexander John (1889) “The Land of Utch for I, Sm.”, in On Early English Pronunciation, volume 5, London: Trübner & Co, page 1516
- ^ William Holloway (1840) A General Dictionary of Provincialisms[1], page 181
- ^ “utchy, adj.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2018.
