forma

Forms

forma (weak adjective, superlative in form; feminine and neuter forme)^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *frumô (“first”).^[1] The same Germanic formation appears in Old Saxon formo (“first”), Old Frisian forma and Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌰 (fruma, “first, former”), and as a first element in Old Norse frumburðr (“firstborn”).^[4][5][6]

The word is made of a base meaning “before, in front”, Proto-Indo-European *per-, and the suffix Proto-Indo-European *-mo-, which formed superlatives, so that it meant “foremost”.^[7][8] Holthausen and Orel compare Lithuanian pìrmas (“first”) and Ancient Greek πρόμος (prómos, “foremost man, chief”), formed with the same suffix.^[5][4] Hogg and Fulk take the ⟨-ma⟩ of forma as the ending of an inherited elative, to which the ordinary superlative suffix could be added again, giving fyrmest; the pattern then spread to other adjectives made from adverbs, such as meduma “middling”.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written between 890 and 897, has gif we sceawiað ða biesene ðæs forman hierdes, ðæt wæs sanctus Petrus “if we look at the example of the first shepherd, who was Saint Peter”, with forma in the sense “first in order”.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

In Old English forma is the ordinary word for “first”, used of order, rank and time; it is declined as a weak adjective and usually follows a demonstrative, as in se forma “the first one”.^[2][11] In glosses it renders Latin “primus” and “principium”.^[8] In Beowulf it occurs mostly in the phrase forma sīð “the first time”, and in the laws it marks a first offence: æt þam forman cyrre “at the first occasion”.^[12][13] Beside it stood the double superlative fyrmest.^[12][3]

The word lived on as Middle English forme “first, earliest”, recorded from the Peterborough Chronicle.^[14]

Timeline

• 890×897 – ðæs forman hierdes “of the first shepherd” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[9][10]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – Her endað seo forme boc “here ends the first book” in the Old English Bede (Tanner 10).^[15][10]
• s. x/xi – forma sīð “the first time” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][12]
• a. 1121 – Middle English On þære forman længten wucan “in the first week of Lent” in the Peterborough Chronicle.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. first in order or rank.^[2][11]
2. first in time, earliest.^[2][8]
3. forma sīþ, forma cyrr: the first time;^[12][13] (law) the first offence.^[12][13]
4. foremost, the one in front.^[8]

Word family

• fyrmest

Descendants

• Middle English forme^[1]

Related words

• fruma
• fyrst
• fram
• fremman
• fore

References

1. ^ a b c 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. 315
3. ^ a b c Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.74
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 116
5. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 112
6. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. 150
7. ^ Lass, Roger (1994), Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 214
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. forma
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 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 Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 86
12. ^ a b c d e 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. forma
13. ^ a b c Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 77
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. ^ 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
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. 344