handlian

Forms

handlian (weak class 2; third-person singular present handlaþ, past singular handlode, past plural handlodon)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *handulōn, from Proto-Germanic *handulōną (“to take or hold in the hand”), made from *handuz (“hand”) with the frequentative suffix *-lōną.^[1] Within Old English it can be analysed as hand with the verbal suffix -lian.^[1] Orel instead derives the Germanic verb from a noun meaning “handle”.^[2]

It has cognates in Old Norse hǫndla (“to handle, to manage”), Old Frisian handelia, Old Saxon handlon (“to act, to deal”) and Old High German hantalōn (“to handle, to feel”).^[2][3][4] It is a weak verb of the second class.^[1]

Semantic evolution

The word is rare: the DOE Corpus has it 18 times, in seven texts, half of them glosses.^[5] Its basic sense is touching with the hands: in Genesis Jacob fears that his father will feel him, Gyf min fæder me handlað (Latin si attrectaverit me pater meus).^[6][5] A penitential speaks of handling holy books, and glosses render Latin contrectare and palpare.^[6][7] It was also used of dealing with a matter: in a charter the parties handledon the suit for a long time, and a later text speaks of the things “we have now treated”.^[6][7]

It lived on as Middle English handlen, now English handle.^[1]

Meanings

Verb

1. to touch or feel with the hands, handle.^[6][7][8]
2. to deal with, treat a subject, discuss.^[7][8]

Word family

• ġehandlian

Descendants

• Middle English handlen (→ Scots handil; English handle)^[1]

Related words

• hand

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 159
3. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 149
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. handlian
5. ^ a b Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
6. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 509
7. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 508
8. ^ a b Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 169