climban

Forms

climban (strong class 3; third-person singular present climbþ, past singular clamb, past plural clumbon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *klimban, from Proto-Germanic *klimbaną (“to climb”).^[1][2] Seebold sets up the Germanic strong verb of the third class as ⟨*klemb-a-⟩; its nearest relatives are Old High German klimban (“to climb, ascend”), recorded in glosses from the ninth century, and Middle Low German klimmen.^[3][4][2]

Seebold takes the verb as a nasalised form of the root of Proto-Germanic *klībaną (“to stick, cleave”), from a pre-form Proto-Indo-European *gli-m-bh-, and thinks the older derivation from *glembʰ- (“lump, clamp”), the one Pokorny and the other dictionaries give, less likely.^[3] Köbler follows Pokorny here.^[5] Orel compares Lithuanian glėbti (“to grasp”) and Proto-Slavic *globiti (“to fix together”).^[2] Holthausen places beside it Middle High German klambe (“clamp”).^[6]

The ⟨b⟩ after the nasal stood for a real stop in Old English.^[7] The vowel before ⟨mb⟩ was lengthened late in the period, giving ⟨clīmban⟩.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The simple verb is recorded only in the Peterborough Chronicle, in its annal for 1070, where men clumben upp to ðe stepel “climbed up to the steeple” and up to the holy cross.^[9][10] The compound oferclimban “to climb over” is older: in the Old English Orosius, whose manuscript is of the first half of the tenth century, Alexander climbed over a city wall himself: & hrædlice þone weall self oferclom “and quickly climbed over the wall himself”.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller render the verb with Latin scandere and ascendere.^[9] Its rarity in the Old English record contrasts with its life in Middle English, where Middle English climben is common from Laȝamon's Brut on, of climbing walls, hills and stairs.^[12] It was a strong verb in Old English and became weak by the sixteenth century, the modern climb.^[13]

Timeline

• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – oferclom “climbed over” (a wall) in the Old English Orosius.^[11][10]
• annal 1070 – clumben upp “climbed up” to the steeple in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[9][10]
• c. 1275 – Middle English climben in Laȝamon's Brut.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. to climb, to ascend.^[9][5]

Word family

• oferclimban

Descendants

• Middle English clymben (→ English climb; Middle Scots clim; Middle Scots clym)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 215
3. ^ a b Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 298
4. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. climban
6. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 52
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 2.53
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.203
9. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 159
10. ^ a b c d 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. 249
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com