Etymologically
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heah

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Pronunciation

  • /xæ͜ɑːx/, [hæ͜ɑːx][1]

Forms

hēah (comparative hīerra, superlative hīehst)[1] Anglian hēh, early Mercian hǣh; inflected hēan, hēam, weak hēa.[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hauh, from Proto-Germanic *hauhaz (“high”).[1] The adjective is common Germanic: Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌷𐍃 (hauhs), Old Norse hár, Old Frisian hāch, Old Saxon hōh and Old High German hōh.[4][5][6]

Kroonen derives it from Proto-Indo-European *kóuk-o-;[4] Swedish and Norwegian dialect forms point to a Verner variant *hauga-, as in haugr (“mound, hill”) and Lithuanian kaũkas (“bump”).[4] Orel compares Tocharian A koc (“high”) and words for bending and bumps in Indo-Iranian, Baltic and Slavic.[5] Köbler, with a question mark, follows Pokorny in tracing it to Proto-Indo-European *keuk- (“to bend, curve”).[6] Holthausen adds Gothic 𐌷𐌹𐌿𐌷𐌼𐌰 (hiuhma, “heap”).[7] Etymonline calls the group of uncertain origin.[8]

Proto-Germanic /au/ appears as ⟨ēa⟩ in West Saxon, and in Anglian as ⟨ǣ⟩, later ⟨ē⟩.[9][2] The final /h/ was lost in the inflected forms (⟨hēam⟩, ⟨hēa⟩, ⟨hēan⟩).[3] The superlative ⟨hīehst⟩ has the suffix syncopated early, Anglian ⟨hēhst⟩.[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ringe and Taylor cite the early Mercian form hǣh from the Corpus Glossary (gloss 1667), written in the first half of the ninth century.[2][11] The Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century addresses God as ðu hehsta over the Latin “altissime” of Psalm 9: singu noman ðinum ðu hehsta “I will sing to your name, you most high”.[12][13]

Semantic evolution

The adjective is used of tall people, trees, buildings and hills, of the sea as “deep” (ofer hēanne holm in the Wanderer), of rising water, and figuratively of rank, of God, of lofty teaching, and of pride.[14][15][1] Sweet also gives “right” of the hand.[16] In Æthelberht's laws hēahre handa seems to mean “with hostile intent”.[17] The word is very frequent in charter bounds and field names (hēan feld, hēan lēa).[18] As the first part of compounds it means “chief, arch-”, as in hēahbisċop.[1] The adverb hēah means “high, aloft”, and also “proudly”.[14][19]

The word lived on as Middle English heigh, now English high.[20][8]

Timeline

  • s. ix¹ – early Mercian hǣh in the Corpus Glossary.[2][11]
  • s. ix med. – ðu hehsta glossing “altissime” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.[12][13]
  • 890×897 – ofer ealle hea hwammas “over all the high corners” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).[21][13]
  • s. x² – ofer hēanne holm “over the deep sea” in the Wanderer (Exeter Book).[1][22]
  • s. x/xi – in sele þām hēan in the Beowulf manuscript.[23][24]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. high, tall, lofty.[14][23][6]
  2. of water: deep; high, rising.[15][16]
  3. high in rank, exalted, sublime;[14][16] se hēhsta the Most High.[14][16]
  4. proud, haughty.[14][16]
  5. right (of the hand).[16][7]
  6. (in compounds) chief, principal, arch-.[1]

Adverb

  1. high, aloft; proudly.[14][19]

Word family

  • hēahbisċop
  • hēahengel
  • hēahfæder
  • hēahcyning
  • hēahgerēfa
  • hēahsetl
  • hēahnes
  • hēalīċ
  • hīehþu
  • oferhēah

Descendants

  • Middle English heigh (→ English high; English heigh; English hi)[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 309
  3. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 315
  4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 215
  5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 166
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hēah
  7. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 150
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 172
  10. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 278
  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. 76
  12. ^ 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. 329
  13. ^ 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
  14. ^ a b c d e f g Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 515
  15. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 514
  16. ^ a b c d e f Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 105
  17. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 111
  18. ^ Middendorff, H. (1902), Altenglisches Flurnamenbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 9
  19. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 515
  20. ^ 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)
  21. ^ 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
  22. ^ 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
  23. ^ a b 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. hēah
  24. ^ 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