leeve - 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.
leeve ~ v. live. Dae ye know ye’r leevin? (to one repeatedly answering: ‘I daenae know’). leeve oot live to a ripe age (Your side wuz apt naw tae leeve oot). leevin an weel alive and well. leeve private live on a private income, not having/deigning to work (often sarcastically, esp. to one reluctant to seek employment: Maybe ye’ll leeve private, naw lake ither folk). leeve ye oot outlive one (Niver weel? Thon owl blade’ll leeve iz a’ oot). leevin wae ‘alive’ with (leevin wae lice; leevin wae rabbits). wha leeves tae see it (a cautionary reminder in anticipating: Ay, it’ll be a great blissin, wha leeves tae see it). (Note: leeve and live are both common.)
