wee - Hamely Tongue
Source: The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim
Author: James Fenton
Comments: ‘The Hamely Tongue’ has been widely acclaimed as the authoritative record of contemporary (surviving) Ulster-Scots in its heartland of County Antrim where James Fenton faithfully recorded his dictionary items among a network of other native speakers over a 30-year period. This searchable online version of his book takes its text from ‘Part One’ of the fourth edition of 2014 and includes over 3000 word entries. The book preliminaries, supplementary word lists and end matter have been excluded.
wee ~ adj. small. a gye wee boy someone chastened or humiliated (He went oot blowin an bummin whut he wud dae, but come bak a gye wee boy). as wee as moose dung totally lacking in generosity or magnanimity. a wee bit somewhat, rather (a wee bit seek; a wee bit pricey). a wee little a small amount (esp. of work: I hae nae notion o killin maesel, like, but A’ll aye dae a wee little). a weethin somewhat (It’s a weethin big for ye. Bellamaina’s a weethin far tae trevel) [f. a wee thing]. a wee thing wrang something amiss (mentally; or esp. of a girl ‘in trouble’). wee bit (used affectionately or humbly) small, unpretentious (mae wee bit pipe; mae wee bit hoose). wee bit o time life; lifetime (see time). weetchil a youngster; a boy [f. wee child]. weefla a boy [f. wee fella]. wee folk fairies. wee hizzy a girl. wee still poteen. wee yin a baby (esp. unborn: It seems she’s wae a wee yin); (same as half-yin). n. a short period of time (Howl on a wee, wud ye?).
Purchase the Hamely Tongue
The fourth, expanded edition of James Fenton’s seminal work is now available as a Kindle ebook and can be downloaded from Amazon stores:
The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim (ebook)
The Hamely Tongue: A Personal Record of Ulster-Scots in County Antrim (paperback)