ræcan

Forms

rǣċan (third-person singular present rǣċeþ, past singular rǣhte, past plural rǣhton)^[1]

• Anglian keeps ⟨a⟩ in the past and past participle (rāhte, rāht), West Saxon ⟨ǣ⟩ throughout.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *raikijan, from Proto-Germanic *raikijaną (“to stretch out, reach”).^[1][4] The verb is shared with Old Frisian rēka, Middle Low German rēken and Old High German reihhen.^[5][6][4] West Germanic *-ij- was lost after the heavy root syllable, giving *raikjan, and the /k/ was then palatalised before /j/.^[7] Proto-Germanic /ai/ appears as ⟨ǣ⟩ by i-umlaut of ā.^[7] The past ⟨rāhte⟩ beside ⟨rǣhte⟩ matches the Old Frisian past rachte and the Old High German reihta.^[3]

Orel compares Lithuanian ráižytis (“to keep stretching”) and Old Irish rigid (“to stretch”).^[6] Wiktionary takes the Germanic verb from a causative Proto-Indo-European *Hroyǵ-éye-ti of *Hreyǵ- (“to stretch out, reach”).^[1] Köbler gives the root Proto-Indo-European *reyk- only with a query.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest dated instance is in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897), where Wisdom says: Ic ræhte mine hond to eow, nolde iower nan to locian "I stretched out my hand to you, and none of you would look".^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth–Toller divides the verb into an intransitive use, "to reach, extend", as in Ic wīde rǣce ofer engla eard "I reach far over the land of angels" in the Riddles, and a transitive one, "to hold out, offer, present", which renders Latin porrigere in the Gospels: Hé hláf bræc and him rǽhte "he broke bread and handed it to them".^[11] Toller's Supplement adds the stretching out of hands against a person in the Lindisfarne gloss and the giving of something not material, rǣc fultume "grant help".^[12] In Beowulf Grendel reaches out with his hand (rǣhte, line 747).^[13] In the Rectitudines the gebur must bring the seed-corn to the lord's barn.^[14][11]

The verb continued as Middle English rechen, now English reach.^[15][16] MED notes that some Middle English forms cannot be told apart from those of recchen.^[15]

Timeline

• 890×897 – Ic ræhte mine hond to eow in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[9][10]
• s. x² – in the Exeter Book (Christ) and the Junius manuscript (Genesis, Christ and Satan).^[17][18][10]
• s. x³/⁴ – hráhton “laid hands on” in the Lindisfarne gloss.^[19][12]
• s. x ex. – in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies I.^[20][10]
• s. x/xi – rǣhte in the Beowulf manuscript.^[21][13]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) to reach, extend, stretch.^[11][8]
2. to stretch out (the hand, the limbs).^[11][12][13]
3. to hold out, offer, hand over.^[11][8]
4. to give, grant (something not material).^[12][8]

Word family

• ārǣċan
• ġerǣċan
• misrǣċan

Descendants

• Middle English rechen (→ English reach)^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 6.100
3. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 97
4. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 127
5. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 252
6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 295
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 157
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rǣcan
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 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 c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 781
12. ^ a b c d Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 683
13. ^ a b c 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. rǣċan
14. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 180
15. ^ 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)
16. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
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. 223
18. ^ 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. 513
19. ^ 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
20. ^ 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. 407
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. 344