forgietan

Forms

forġietan (strong class 5; third-person singular present forġiett, past singular forġeat, past plural forġēaton)^[1] In early West Saxon ⟨ie⟩ alternates with ⟨i⟩, so that the verb is also written forġitan.^[2][1] The spelling forġytan is frequent as well, and it is the one Klaeber heads the word with.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *fragetan, made of the prefix *fra- and the verb *getan (“to get”);^[1] within Old English it is the prefix for- with ġietan (“to get, obtain”).^[1][5] The same compound appears as Old Saxon fargetan, Old Dutch fargetan and Old High German firgezzan.^[6][5]

The simple verb continues Proto-Germanic *getaną, whose reflexes are Gothic 𐌱𐌹𐌲𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (bigitan, “to find”), Old Norse geta and Old High German bigezzan; outside Germanic Orel compares Ancient Greek χανδάνω (khandánō, “to hold, contain”) and Latin prehendō (“to seize”).^[7] Holthausen gives the same comparanda,^[5] and Köbler sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *gʰedʰ- (“to seize”).^[6] Etymonline takes the prefix in a privative sense, so that the verb meant "to lose hold of" something in the mind.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The verb is first recorded in King Alfred's translation of the Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written 890×897: On ðære gesundfulnesse mon forgiett his selfes "in prosperity a man forgets himself".^[9][10][11] Here it takes a genitive object, as it often does.^[12]

Semantic evolution

The verb takes its object in the genitive or the accusative and renders Latin “oblivisci” and “negligere”: to forget and hence to neglect or disregard.^[12][6] It is common in prose and glosses, and occurs in poetry too (in Maxims I, Genesis, Christ and Satan and the metrical psalms).^[10]

The verb lived on as Middle English forȝeten, now English forget;^[8][5] Holthausen thinks the ⟨g⟩ of the English form is due to Scandinavian influence.^[8][5]

Timeline

• 890×897 – mon forgiett his selfes in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[9][10]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – in the Old English Orosius a list of names is written down þæt he hi þe læs forgeate “so that he might forget them the less”.^[13][10]
• s. x² – Maxims I in the Exeter Book.^[14][10]
• s. x ex. – Ælfric's Catholic Homilies I (Royal 7 C. xii).^[15][10]

Meanings

Verb

1. to forget, with a genitive or accusative object.^[12][6]
2. to neglect, to disregard.^[12][1]
3. with a reflexive genitive, to forget oneself.^[11]

Word family

• forġietol
• forġietolnes

Descendants

• Middle English forȝeten (→ English forget; English foryete; Scots forget)^[1]

Related words

• ġietan
• beġietan
• onġietan

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.165
3. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 312
4. ^ 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. for-ġytan
5. ^ a b c d e Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 130
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. forgietan
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 133
8. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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 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 Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 244
12. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 311
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. 249
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. 223
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. 407