slean

Forms

slēan (third-person singular present sliehþ, past singular slōg, past plural slōgon)^[1]

• Northumbrian slā, slān, slǣ.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *slahan, from Proto-Germanic *slahaną (“to beat, strike, slay”).^[1][3] The strong verb is common Germanic: Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (slahan), Old Norse slá, Old Frisian slā, Old Saxon slahan and Old High German slahan.^[3][4][5] Outside Germanic it matches only Celtic, Middle Irish slachta (“hit”) and slacc (“sword”), a word shared only by Germanic and Celtic, from a root that Kroonen thinks may first have imitated a sound.^[3][4] Köbler sets up a root Proto-Indo-European *slak- (“to strike, hammer”).^[5]

The West Saxon form shows breaking before restoration of /a/: *slaxan > *slæxan > *slæaxan > *slæahan > *slǣa-an > slǣan, written ⟨slēan⟩, with /x/ weakened to /h/ and lost between vowels.^[2] Hogg & Fulk follow this order.^[6] The /g/ of the past plural ⟨slōgon⟩ and the participle ⟨slagen⟩ is the Verner's-law alternant of /h/, and in early West Saxon and Anglian it spread to the singular ⟨slōg⟩, which Ælfric replaced with ⟨slōh⟩.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the mid-ninth century: in the Old English gloss of the Vespasian Psalter ðu sloge alle wiðerbrocan me renders Latin “tu percussisti omnes aduersantes mihi” “you struck all who stood against me”.^[9][10]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller order the senses from striking an object, with the special senses of striking coin, striking a musical instrument and pitching a tent, to striking with a weapon so as to kill.^[11][12] In glosses it renders Latin “percutere”, “ferire”, “caedere”, “occidere” and “interficere”.^[5] The laws use it of a blow with the fist and of cutting off the hand that did a crime, and the laws of Æthelred punish the moneyer who strikes false coin.^[13][11][12] Used without an object, it can mean to rush or break out, as fire from an oven.^[12] In Beowulf it means both “strike” and “slay”.^[14]

The verb lived on as Middle English sleen, now English slay.^[15] Holthausen notes that the English form slay was made after the participle slain, and that the older form was slea.^[16]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – ðu sloge “you struck” in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[9][10]
• 890×897 – Ic mæg slean & ierman mine heafodgemæccan “I may strike and harm my fellow servants” in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[17][10]
• s. x med. – an illness that strikes in Bald's Leechbook.^[18][12]
• s. x/xi – slōg and slōh “slew” in the Beowulf manuscript.^[19][14]
• s. x ex. – in Ælfric's Catholic Homilies I (Royal 7 C. xii); Ælfric's past is slōh.^[20][8]

Meanings

Verb

1. to strike, smite, beat.^[11][14]
2. to strike coins, mint money.^[11][12]
3. to strike a musical instrument; to play the harp.^[12][16]
4. to slay, kill; to slaughter.^[11][14]
5. to cut off (a hand); to pitch a tent; to drive in nails.^[12]
6. of a snake, to bite or sting; of an illness, to strike.^[1][12]
7. without an object, to rush, break out, move quickly.^[12][1]

Word family

• forslēan
• ġeslēan
• ofslēan
• tōslēan
• ofāslēan

Descendants

• Middle English sleen (→ English slay; Middle Scots sla; Middle Scots slay)^[1]

Related words

• slaga
• sleċġ
• sleġe
• sleġel
• sliht

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 5.38
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 452
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 348
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sléan
6. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 6.39
7. ^ Hogg, Richard M. (1992), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 1: Phonology, Oxford: Blackwell, p. § 4.5
8. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 6.66
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. 329
10. ^ 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
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. 882
12. ^ a b c d e f g h i Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 704
13. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 198
14. ^ a b c d 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. slēan
15. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
16. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 298
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. 499
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. 412
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. 344
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