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)

1. (dialectal) alternative form of vete (“beacon”)
2. (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)

1. (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.”