ceorfan

Forms

ċeorfan (strong class 3; third-person singular present ċierfþ, past singular ċearf, past plural curfon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *kerban, from Proto-Germanic *kerbaną (“to carve, cut”).^[1][2] The Proto-Germanic strong verb survives in Old Frisian kerva, Middle Dutch kerven and Middle High German kerben (“to notch”).^[3][4][5]

Kroonen derives it from a present *gérbʰ-e- to the European root Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ- (“to scratch”), which is also behind Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō, “to scratch, write”) and Slavic words for “lot”, with the shift from “carve” to “fate”; he takes Old Irish cerbaid (“to hack”) as a loan from Germanic.^[4] Orel, Köbler and Etymonline give the same root and the Greek verb.^[3][6][7]

The Proto-West Germanic verb took ⟨eo⟩ through breaking of /e/ before ⟨r⟩ and a consonant, and its past singular became ⟨ċearf⟩.^[2] The verb is one of those in which a palatalised consonant alternates with an unpalatalised one: ⟨ċ⟩ in the present and in ⟨ċearf⟩, /k/ before the back vowels of ⟨curfon⟩ and ⟨corfen⟩.^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated record is in the Vespasian Psalter gloss, added in the middle of the ninth century: Dryhten rehtwis ceorfeð swirban synfulra “the righteous Lord will cut the necks of the sinners”, for the Latin “concidet cervices peccatorum” of Psalm 128.^[9][10] In the Pastoral Care, copied in 890×897, David cearf swiðe digellice suiðe lytelne læppan of Saules mentle “very secretly cut a very small piece off Saul's cloak”.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller define it as “to cut, cut down, hew, rend, tear, carve, engrave”; its objects are trees, doors, the parts of a sacrificial ram, and the hands and noses cut off as a punishment.^[12] In the Dream of the Rood the disciples carve Christ's tomb out of bright stone.^[12][10] The Lindisfarne gloss also uses it for “to slay”, rendering Latin “interficite”.^[13] In glosses it renders Latin “abscindere”, “amputare”, “concidere” and “excidere”.^[6] It forms many compounds with prefixes, such as āceorfan and forceorfan.^[12]

The word lived on as Middle English kerven, now English carve.^[14][7] The /k/ of the Middle English form is explained by the MED from the unpalatalised past forms, perhaps reinforced by Old Norse, while Hogg presumes Scandinavian influence.^[14][15] Etymonline also puts the /k/ down to Scandinavian forms.^[7]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – ceorfeð swirban synfulra “will cut the necks of the sinners” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[9][10]
• 890×897 – David cearf a piece off Saul's cloak in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[11][10]
• s. x² – curfon hie ðæt of beorhtan stane “they carved it out of bright stone” in the Dream of the Rood (Vercelli Book).^[16][10]
• s. x³/⁴ – cearfas for Latin “interficite” (slay) in the Lindisfarne Gospels gloss.^[17][13]

Meanings

Verb

1. to cut, cut off, cut down, hew.^[12][6]
2. to carve, cut out, engrave.^[12]
3. to tear, rend.^[12]
4. to slay.^[13][6]

Word family

• āceorfan
• beceorfan
• forceorfan
• ofceorfan
• tōceorfan
• ymbceorfan
• ġeceorfan

Descendants

• Middle English cherven^[1]
• Middle English kerven (→ English carve; Scots cairve; Scots kerve)^[1]

Related words

• cyrf

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 205
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 213
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 285
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ceorfan
7. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 7.41
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. 329
10. ^ 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
11. ^ 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
12. ^ a b c d e f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 151
13. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 122
14. ^ 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)
15. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 7.42
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. 704
17. ^ 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