# Icelandic: Skedla



## elegant_voodoo

Greetings!

I am looking for help on a name that I believe to be Icelandic in origin.

I am curious if there is a translation for the word "Skedla" (or at least that's how I've heard it pronounced)? A friend of mine named her dog Skedla and said that it meant "wild child". I've looked it up and Skella has that meaning. Would Skella be pronounced as "Sked-lah" or "Sked-la" or were they misinformed?

I think that Skedla is a beautiful name and just wondered if there's any meaning behind that word.

Many thanks!
elegant_voodoo


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## Jónurin

In Faroese the word "skella" (pronounced [shedla]) is not a name, but it's a feminine noun that has five different meanings:

1. a tool that makes noise (to scare horses)
2. a smack in the face
3. burnt coal
4. the layer in between the blubber and flesh of a whale
5. a certain piece of mutton

But honestly, I haven't haven't heard the word being used except in this circumstance:
"Hann sat í *skelli*látri"
(He laughed out loud)

So, my best guess is that "skella" is something that makes a lot of noise.


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## elegant_voodoo

Thank you for that information! I appreciate the assistance 

elegant_voodoo


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## missTK

I don't really speak Icelandic, but I think you are right that skella would be pronounced more or less like "skedla".


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## elegant_voodoo

Thank you! I'm not at all familiar with the pronunciations!

elegant_voodoo


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## DelHielo

You are right, Skella is a loud girl, and can also be a verb, meaning "slam", like "skella hurð" is "slam the door". 

And yes, it´s pronounced "skedlah"

We also have "skellihlátur" (loud laugh) and "Skellibjalla" is actually the Icelandic name for Peter Pan´s Tinkerbell.


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## elegant_voodoo

Great! I appreciate the verification. I think what threw me was the double l being pronounced almost like a d. Though, in retrospect, a double l is pronounced almost like a y in Spanish, so I guess the concept isn't too far off.

Thank you all again for your assistance!
elegant_voodoo


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## skarphéðinn

elegant_voodoo said:


> Great! I appreciate the verification. I think what threw me was the double l being pronounced almost like a d. Though, in retrospect, a double l is pronounced almost like a y in Spanish, so I guess the concept isn't too far off.
> 
> Thank you all again for your assistance!
> elegant_voodoo



Just out of curiosity... I fail to see the connection between the [ll] in Spanish spelling being pronounced as [j] (spelled 'y', common pronunciation in Latin America, but also Madrid, in words like _calle_ 'street') and the evolution of Old Ice. long [l] into Mod. ice. [tl] (it's actually voiceless, although philological tradition often transcribes it as [dl]). skella : [sketla]. 
Did I miss something or did you simply mean that spelling of l in various languages does not correspond to the pronunciation?

best,
skph


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## elegant_voodoo

My apologies for being confusing on that. You didn't miss anything. I simply meant that the spelling of l or the double l in different languages does not always correspond to the pronunciation. 

Sorry about that.
elegant_voodoo


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