Umberto Patuzzi, ed., (2013)Ünsarne Börtar, Luserna: Comitato unitario delle linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien
Norwegian uses two different words for "wall". One, "mur", refers to independent outdoor structures used to fortify and delineate. The other, "vegg", is used to refer to the walls of a building, regardless of its location and material composition. Both are occasionally used metaphorically, "mur" more so. "Mur" can also refer to the type of material such walls are typically made of, hence the possible construction "murvegg", meaning the wall of a house composed of brick or concrete.
The wordsmur andvegg are both translated into English aswall. However, they are widely distinguished in the following manner: onlymur is commonly used for freestanding walls. Onlyvegg is commonly used for the walls of a building, whether internal or external.Mur is restricted to stone or concrete walls, whereasvegg is used regardless of material. A wall made from brick or stone can be called amurvegg.
1251, anonymous,Calila e Dimna 14, (ed. by Juan Manuel Cacho Blecua, María Jesús Lacarra, Madrid: Castalia, 1993):
Et alçó los ojos contra las dos ramas et vio estar en las raízes dellas dosmures, el uno blanco et el otro negro, royendo sienpre, que non quedavan.
And he raised his eyes towards the two branches [he was hanging on from], and saw that at the roots there were twomice, one white and the other black, constantly gnawing to the point there hardly remained any roots anymore.
An inner or outer wall of a building is avägg. More rarely,mur might refer to avägg made of brick or the like. Other terms for such avägg ismurvägg ormurad vägg.
The most commonly used word for“wall” in Welsh iswal. The wordmur is used most often when referring to large walls such as the defensive walls of a city orMur Mawr Tsieina(“the Great Wall of China”). It is also used in compound words, for examplemurlun,rhagfur,cellfur,briwydd y mur. The wordpared refers to an internal partition wall whereasmagwyr is a literary word for an external wall, little used now but preserved in such things as place and plant names.