Talk:scatter

Copyright violation from the AHD

The definitions and most of the etymology are straight from the AHD, which would be sufficient for a speedy rewrite. I don't feel sufficiently capable of writing English definitions. The copyvio templates looked kind of goofy so I didn't include those. ¦ hyark digyik 22:20, 5 January 2006 (UTC)

Etymology

The Latin SCATEO[5] has been presented as akin to scatter, but its relation is not clear enough to present in the Entry; however, it is considerably closer that any link with Cornish SCAT[2] (to punch)! Andrew H. Gray 09:03, 21 September 2016 (UTC) Andrew (talk)

[0] means 'Absolutely not; [1] means 'Exceedingly unlikely'; [2] means 'Very dubious'; [3] means 'Questionable'; [4] means 'Possible'; [5] means 'Probable'; [6] means 'Likely'; [7] means 'Most Likely' or *Unattested; [8] means 'Attested'; [9] means 'Obvious' - only used for close matches within the same language or dialect, at linkable periods.

scatter and shatter

From the etymologies it becomes clear that these are related somehow, but how exactly? Are they doublets? As far as I know, word-initial /sk/ is never native in English. Is "shatter" the inherited form and "scatter" a borrowing (from Dutch or Norse?)?

The intrusive 'e' in the Old English form was normal in Southern England; whereas the Northern form (in Northumbrian) would have been *SCATTERAN; so this latter form may have been imported into Middle English. Both forms are from the same root, which is possibly a hybrid of the reconstructed Proto-Germanic (although the Germanic forms appear to be borrowed), Latin SCATEO and Cornish SCAT (to punch). Andrew H. Gray 18:54, 30 March 2019 (UTC) Andrew