hlud

Forms

hlūd (comparative hlūdra, superlative hlūdast)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *hlūd (“loud, famous”), from Proto-Germanic *hlūdaz (“loud”).^[1] Its cognates are Old Frisian hlūd, Old Saxon hlūd and Old High German hlūt.^[2][3][4] Kroonen derives it from the root Proto-Indo-European *ḱlew- (“to hear”); since that root did not end in a laryngeal, the long /ū/ must have arisen within Germanic, perhaps in a vṛddhi formation meaning “audible”.^[2] Orel sets it beside the participle Proto-Indo-European *ḱlutós (“heard”), comparing Ancient Greek κλυτός (klutós, “famous”).^[3] Köbler too places it under the root for hearing and fame.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is the Pastoral Care in Hatton 20, written 890×897: ðæt ar, ðonne hit mon slihð, hit bið hludre ðonne ænig oðer ondweorc “brass, when it is struck, is louder than any other metal”, for the Latin “aes dum percutitur amplius metallis ceteris sonitum reddit”.^[6][7][8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective describes sound and voices, as in hludre stefne “with a loud voice”; persons who are noisy or talkative, where the Kentish glosses render Latin “garrula” and “clamosa”; and wind, water, instruments and blows.^[8][9] It is frequent in poetry: in Beowulf Grendel hears the dream … hludne in the hall.^[9][10]

The word lived on as Middle English loud, now English loud, used of noises, voices and instruments.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 890×897 – hludre “louder” of struck brass in the Pastoral Care.^[6][7]
• s. x in. or xi¹ – hludre stefne cleopian “call with a loud voice” in the Old English Bede.^[13][7]
• s. x² – hlud wop “loud weeping” in Christ in the Exeter Book.^[14][9]
• s. x² – hludan stefne in Andreas in the Vercelli Book.^[15][8]
• s. x/xi – dream … hludne in the Beowulf manuscript.^[16][10]
• c. 1230 – Middle English lud, loude in the Ancrene Riwle.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. loud, sonorous, of a sound or voice.^[8][17][5]
2. of a person, noisy, talkative.^[9]
3. of wind, water, an instrument or a blow, making a loud sound.^[9]

Word family

• oferhlūd
• unhlūd
• hlūde

Descendants

• Middle English loud (→ English loud; Scots loud; Scots lood)^[1]

Related words

• hlēoþor
• hlyst
• hlȳdan

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 231
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 178
4. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 164
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hlūd
6. ^ 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
7. ^ 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
8. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 545
9. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 553
10. ^ 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. hlūd
11. ^ 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)
12. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 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. 704
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
17. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 113