March 17, 2016

IN STUIT - "a time, momertarily"

Today, let's introduce a fairly common word with a pronunciation that may throw you for a bit of a loop if you are just reading it: stuit, pronounced with with the same vowel in the English "aye" or -"igh" like in "night" (I am also hearing, less commonly, a long "ah" in some places).

The word shows up in expressions relating to a short time, but also seems to mean a goal-point in sports.

Honestly, I chose this particular lesson because of the recent bad news regarding Omrop Fryslân: the media merger law passed this week and the station will be losing its independence under that new law. Perhaps it can be appealed to the European Union? I don't know. But the situation is unpleasant, and perhaps we can best focus on making sure that Frisian survives and thrives despite the present moment.

Op in stuit
For a moment, momentarily, for a time.
(AWp UHn stIGHt)

Remember, op, meaning "on," "for," "to", "at, "by" (etc.) takes a similar vowel to the one in "pot" and in, meaning "a" or "an," takes a schwa.

Op in stuit krijt men jins nocht
In a moment one gets fed up... [thank you to Evert for the correction!]
(AWp UHn stIGHT krIGHt mUHn yIHns nAWkht)

Op slach en stuit
By blow and moment, e.g., immediately.
Op slach en stuit
(AWp SLAHkh UHn stIGHt).

Slach is said with the long "ah in "father" and the harsh "kh" in the German word Bach. It can mean many things, among them: "blow," "battle," "warp" or "a turning," "birdsong," or "a kind of."

Meanwhile, if you are looking for other momentary diversions, you can now follow Fun With Frisian on Facebook:

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