våtå

Norwegian Nynorsk

Alternative forms

våttå, vuttu (beacon, Trøndelag)
våttå (to know, Trøndelag)

Etymology 1

From Old Norse vita, oblique case of viti.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /²ʋɔtɔ/, /²ʋɔtːɔ/
Note: All of the declensions have short vowels.

Noun

våtå m (definite singular våtån, definite singular dative våtåa, indefinite plural våtåa or våtå, definite plural våtåan, definite plural dative våtåm)

(dialectal) alternative form of vete (“beacon”)
(dialectal, Trøndelag) hilltop where a beacon stands or has stood
oppå våtån ― up by the beacon

Etymology 2

From Old Norse vita, where the vowels are fully levelled. Cf. vårå < vera.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /²ʋɔtɔ/, /²ʋɔtːɔ/

Verb

våtå (present tense veit or vet, past tense vesst, past participle vesst or vessta)

(dialectal, Trøndelag, Gudbrandsdal) alternative form of vita (“to know”)
- 1930, Kristofer Uppdal, Galgberget, Oslo: Noregs boklag, page 44:
  Han må gjårå det, og fær ikkj våtå kvifor.
  He has to do it, and doesn’t get to know why.
- 1885, Georg Sauerwein, Frie Viso ifraa Vigguin sungje i Nørdre-Gudbrandsdalsk Dølamaal, Kristiania: Cammermeyer, page 92:
  „Kva’ Ti’ naa kjøm Posten? Imorgo maataa?“
  – „Kva’ Ti’ dæ æ inkje saa greidt aa vaataa:
  Idag, ell imorgo, ell anen Kvell,
  Kanske overmorgo, da kjøm haⁱn lel.“
  “What time does the post arrive? Tomorrow?”
  – “The time isn’t easy to know:
  Today, or tomorrow, or tomorrow night,
  Maybe the day after that, then it comes anyway.”