kjavna

/ˈkjɑv.na/

noun· region: north-noemic, inland· frequency: domestic, common· first recorded: 1881

the dust visible only in slanting light.

from older kjáv (a slant, a sloping shaft), with the diminutive ending -na preserved in north-noemic alone. the word names what other dialects must describe with three. in some valleys, kjavna is also the verb to make the dust visible, said of a window that has just been opened. compare dust, vespilux.

"there is kjavna in the parlour again. the window must have caught the sun before i did." — from a letter, ut. valley, 1907

"i did not clean for a week and the room produced its own kjavna; i was not sorry." — overheard, the library

field note · l.m., 1979 kjavna is not always the same dust. in winter it is wool and ash; in summer it is flour and paper. speakers from the upper valleys insist that true kjavna requires a south-facing window and a sun within two hours of noon. i did not contest this.

see also · dust vespilux window hornlight dictionary