ælc

Forms

ǣlċ^[1]

• Other spellings: ēalc, ēlc, ylc.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is from Old English ā (“ever”) + ġelīċ (“alike”), as Bosworth and Toller, Köbler and Etymonline explain it.^[5][4][6] Hogg traces the inflected forms to *ǣlīċ, whose long vowel was shortened before the vowel of the second syllable was lost.^[7] Hogg and Fulk derive the prefix ǣġ- of ǣġhwelċ (“each”) from *ā-ġi-^[8] and treat this word as its reduced form;^[9] Wiktionary takes it for a contraction of that longer pronoun.^[1]

Köbler compares Old Frisian ellik,^[4] and Bosworth and Toller compare Dutch elk.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is the will of the reeve Abba, of 833×839, which survives in its contemporary single sheet: whoever holds the land is to give ælce gere “every year” fifty ambers of malt to the community at Folkestone.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller give it the senses “each, any, every, all”, rendering Latin omnis, quisque and unusquisque.^[5][4] Used as a noun it means “each one, everyone”, often with a genitive plural (ǣlc ðǣra ðe “each of those who”), and with ōþer it expresses a reciprocal action.^[12] In a negative clause it means “any”.^[13] The instrumental ǣlċe dæġ “every day” kept an endingless form in set phrases: the Pastoral Care has it beside ǣlċe dæġe, and Ælfric prefers the endingless one.^[14]

Etymonline notes that it was used much as every and all are now.^[6] It continued as Middle English ech, now English each.^[15][6]

Timeline

• 833×839 – ælce gere “every year” in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.^[10][11]
• 890×897 – æfter ælcre wuhte “after every thing” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[16][11]
• a1121 – ælc riht “every right” in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[15]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. each, every one, everyone; with the genitive plural, each of.^[12][17]

Adjective

1. each, every, all.^[5][4]
2. in a negative clause, any.^[13][5]

Descendants

• Middle English ech (→ English each; Scots ilk; Scots elk)^[1]

Related words

• ǣġhwelċ
• ġelīċ

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 227
3. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 245
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ǣlc
5. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 13
6. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 6.19
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. 208
9. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 5.37
10. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
11. ^ a b c Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
12. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 15
13. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 6
14. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.18
15. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
16. ^ Gneuss, Helmut; Lapidge, Michael (2014), Anglo-Saxon Manuscripts: A Bibliographical Handlist of Manuscripts and Manuscript Fragments Written or Owned in England up to 1100, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 499
17. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 7