mara

Forms

māra^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *maizō, from Proto-Germanic *maizô (“bigger, more”).^[2][1] The Proto-Germanic comparative is found in all the old Germanic languages: Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌹𐌶𐌰 (maiza), Old Norse meiri, Old Frisian māra, Old Saxon mēro and Old High German mēro.^[2][3][4] It serves as the comparative of miċel (“great”) in every Germanic language, a suppletive pair.^[3][5]

Heidermanns compares the suppletive comparatives meaning "greater, more" in other Indo-European languages, built on two ablaut grades: Oscan mais (“more”) on one side, Old Irish máo (“greater”) and Welsh mwy on the other; the Germanic form may have merged both types.^[3] Orel derives it from a root *mē- "large" and sets it beside the same Oscan and Welsh words;^[6][4] Köbler gives the root as Pokorny's *mēi̯es- "greater, more".^[6][4]

Proto-Germanic /z/ became /r/ in West Germanic, and the diphthong /ai/ became Old English ⟨ā⟩, where Old Saxon and Old High German have ⟨ē⟩.^[2][7] Hogg and Fulk explain why the word never shows i-umlaut, unlike most comparatives in *-izō: the sequence *-ai- arose from two syllables in Germanic, and once contracted it developed like any other *ai.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the 890s: in the Pastoral Care, in the manuscript made under King Alfred (Hatton 20), Gregory says of a ruler that ða wende he ðæt he eac mara wære “then he thought that he was also greater”, because he could do more than anyone else.^[9][10] The Parker Chronicle has oþ him mara fultum tocom “until greater help came to them” in its annal for 921.^[11][10]

Semantic evolution

Clark Hall gives the senses greater, more, stronger and mightier, and an adverbial use "in addition" in the Gospels;^[12][4] Köbler records it glossing Latin magis, plus and amplus.^[12][4] The dictionaries treat it under miċel, whose comparative it is, with the superlative mǣst.^[13][14][5]

The word lived on as Middle English more, now English more.^[1][15]

Timeline

• 890×897 – mara “greater” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[9][10]
• s. ix/x – mara fultum “more help” in the Parker Chronicle.^[11][10]
• s. x³/⁴ – in the Old English gloss to the Lindisfarne Gospels.^[16][10]
• s. x/xi – in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. greater, larger; comparative of miċel.^[12][1][4]
2. more in amount or number.^[12][4]
3. stronger, mightier.^[12]
4. (adverbial) in addition, besides.^[12]

Descendants

• Middle English more (→ English more; Scots mair)^[1]

Related words

• miċel
• mǣst
• mā

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 83
3. ^ a b c Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. 398
4. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. māra
5. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.64
6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 257
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 170
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.71
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 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. 83
12. ^ a b c d e f Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 230
13. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 671
14. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 136
15. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 291
17. ^ 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