August 17, 2018

HELJE - "to catch, drag, succeed"

Clip from an 1834 painting by Rudolph Jordan
Here's a versatile Frisian verb with connections to an archaic word in English: helje. It can mean to catch, fetch, drag, haul, or realize (a goal). Apparently, in English we once had "hale" as a verb meaning "to drag or draw forcibly." A few examples:

besykje te heljen
try to catch 
[buh-SEE-kyuh tuh HEHL-yehn]

it net helje
it doesn't succeed
[UHt NET HEHL-yuh]

it skip hellet
the ship is swept back and forth by wind
[UHt SKIHP HEHL-luht]

On a related note, the word FANGE means "to catch" and FISKJE specifically means "to fish."