eahta

Forms

eahta (numeral, usually uninflected; also ehta, æhta, ahta)^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *ahtō, from Proto-Germanic *ahtau (“eight”).^[1][3] The numeral is shared by Gothic 𐌰𐌷𐍄𐌰𐌿 (ahtau), Old Norse átta, Old Frisian achta, Old Saxon ahto and Old High German ahto.^[3][4]

It continues the Indo-European word for eight, Proto-Indo-European *oḱtṓw, also the source of Latin octō, Ancient Greek ὀκτώ (oktṓ), Old Irish ocht and Sanskrit अष्ट (aṣṭa).^[3][4][5][1] Kroonen mentions the view that the numeral was first a dual.^[3]

The ⟨ea⟩ is the regular breaking of Germanic /a/ before /x/, found in all dialects, although Anglian later smoothed it, giving ⟨æ⟩ or ⟨e⟩.^[6] Hogg counts the final vowel among the cases where a Germanic unstressed diphthong, still seen in the Gothic form, was made a single long vowel in late Germanic.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The numeral is recorded from the end of the ninth century: the Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written between 890 and 897, speaks of ðæm eahta & hundælleftiogoðan psalme “the hundred and eighteenth psalm”, the cardinal joined to an ordinal.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Eahta is mostly used as an adjective before a noun (eahta dagas “eight days”), and also as a noun, with a genitive (ūre eahta “eight of us”), and for the number eight in reckoning.^[2][10][11] It renders Latin “octo” in glosses.^[5] The Lindisfarne and Rushworth glosses have Northumbrian forms ending in a vowel or ⟨-w-⟩.^[10]

It lived on as Middle English eighte, now English eight.^[1]

Timeline

• 890×897 – ðæm eahta & hundælleftiogoðan psalme “the hundred and eighteenth psalm” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[8][9]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – whales eahta and feowertiges elna lange “forty-eight ells long” in the Old English Orosius.^[12][9]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – a wall eahta fota bradne “eight feet broad” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[13][9]
• s. x³/⁴ – Northumbrian æhto “eight” in the Lindisfarne Gospels gloss.^[14][10]
• s. x/xi – eahta mearas “eight horses” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[15][2]

Meanings

Numeral

1. eight.^[2][5][16]

Noun

1. a group of eight, with a genitive (ūre eahta “eight of us”).^[11]
2. the abstract number eight.^[17]

Word family

• eahtoþa
• eahtatiġ
• eahtatīene

Descendants

• Middle English eighte (→ English eight; Scots echt; Scots aucht)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 226
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 6
4. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 83
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. eahta
6. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.20
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 6.27
8. ^ 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
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 165
11. ^ a b Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 58
12. ^ 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
13. ^ 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. 531
14. ^ 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
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. 344
16. ^ Fulk, R. D.; Bjork, Robert E.; Niles, John D., eds. (2008), Klaeber's Beowulf and The Fight at Finnsburg, 4th ed., Toronto: University of Toronto Press (glossary), p. s.v. eahta
17. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 762