byrþen

Forms

byrþen f (strong ō-stem; genitive singular byrþenne, nominative plural byrþenna)^[1] Also byrþenn, byrðen and byrden.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *burþini, formed from Proto-Germanic *burþī (“burden”) with a suffix.^[1] Within Old English it can be analysed as byrd with the suffix -en.^[1] Hogg and Fulk put it among the feminine nouns in ⟨-en(n)⟩ whose suffix goes back to a jō-stem of West Germanic.^[2]

Related nouns are Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌸𐌴𐌹 (baúrþei, “burden, load”), Old Norse byrðr, Old Frisian berthene and berde, Old Saxon burthinnia and Old High German burdin.^[3][4][5] All belong with beran (“to bear, carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”).^[3][6] Orel compares Sanskrit भृति (bhṛtí, “load, burden”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is first recorded in the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter, of the mid-ninth century, where swe swe byrðen hefig “like a heavy burden” renders the Latin “sicut onus graue” of Psalm 37.^[7][8] In the preface to the Pastoral Care (890×897) the writer says he wished to flee ða byrðenne ðære hirdelecan giemenne “the burden of pastoral care”.^[9][8]

Semantic evolution

Toller's Supplement gives the literal sense of a load carried, such as a load of malt or wood, set against carriage by wagon or horse, and an oppressive weight, and figuratively the burden of sins, of rule and of other men's faults, and a charge laid on someone.^[10] In a law of the Northumbrian priests it is a load carried on the back.^[11] Holthausen and Clark Hall also give charge, duty.^[3][12] In glosses it renders “onus”, “pondus” and “fasciculus”.^[6] The Pastoral Care already writes it with a single ⟨n⟩.^[13]

The word lived on as Middle English birthene, now English burden.^[1] The change from ⟨th⟩ to ⟨d⟩ began early in the twelfth century, and the older form burthen was kept for the capacity of a ship.^[14]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – swe swe byrðen hefig “like a heavy burden” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[7][8]
• 890×897 – ða byrðenne ðære hirdelecan giemenne in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[9][8]
• s. x² – byrþenne in the Vercelli homilies.^[15][8]
• s. x³/⁴ – the noun in the Lindisfarne gloss of Matthew and Mark.^[16][8]
• early 12th century – ⟨th⟩ begins to give way to ⟨d⟩ in the English word.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. a burden, load, something carried.^[10][6]
2. an oppressive weight.^[10]
3. figuratively, a burden of sin, care or office.^[10][12]
4. a charge, duty.^[10][12][3]

Word family

• ġebyrþen

Descendants

• Middle English birthene (→ English burden; Middle Scots burdyn; Middle Scots birding)^[1]

Related words

• beran
• byrd

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.47
3. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 41
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 64
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. byrþen
7. ^ a b 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. 329
8. ^ a b c d e f Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
9. ^ a b 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
10. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 114
11. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 29
12. ^ a b c Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 63
13. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 2.49
14. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ 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. 704
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. 291