swete

Forms

swēte (comparative swētra, superlative swētest)^[1] Northumbrian swœ̄te.^[2] Mercian swoete, as in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[3][4][5] Beside it stands swōt, without i-umlaut.^[6][7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *swōtī, from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz (“sweet”), from Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”).^[1][2] The adjective is found in Old Norse sœtr, Old Frisian swēte, Old Saxon swōti and Old High German suozi.^[6][8][9] Kroonen calls it the Indo-European word for “sweet”, of the same origin as Sanskrit स्वादु (svādú), Ancient Greek ἡδύς (hēdús) and Latin suāvis.^[6][8][1] Orel takes Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐍄𐌹𐍃 (sutis, “mild, yielding”) for its zero grade;^[8][6] Kroonen finds this less certain because of the different meaning.^[8][6]

Most of the northwest Germanic forms go back to a ja-stem that took the place of the old u-stem; the Old English swōt shows no umlaut and keeps the older type.^[6] Hogg and Fulk class the word as a u-stem.^[7] With i-umlaut, the /ō/ became /œ̄/, kept in Northumbrian, and unrounded to /ē/ in West Saxon.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The adjective is first recorded in the Vespasian Psalter gloss of the mid-ninth century, in Psalm 24: dryhten swoete & reht “the Lord is sweet and upright”, over Latin dulcis et rectus dominus.^[4][5] The Pastoral Care (890×897) says that alms paid out of robbery bring forth nanne swetne wæsðm “no sweet fruit”.^[10][5]

Semantic evolution

Bosworth and Toller begin with sweetness of taste: the fruit that is swá swéte “so sweet” in Genesis B, and the doctor in the Old English Boethius who gives the healthy a mild, sweet drink and others a bitter one.^[11] Sweet adds “fragrant”, “untainted” and “agreeable, pleasant”.^[12] In plant names it marks fragrance, as in swēte wyrt for cinnamon, or a sweet kind of apple.^[13][14] It also appears in charter bounds, as a sweet apple tree in a grant of 958.^[15]

It lived on as Middle English swete, English sweet, also as a noun, “sweetness”.^[16][3]

Timeline

• s. ix med. – dryhten swoete in the Vespasian Psalter gloss.^[4][5]
• 890×897 – nanne swetne wæsðm in the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20).^[10][5]
• s. x med. – a sweet drink, drenc … swétne, in the Old English Boethius (Cotton Otho A. vi).^[17][11]
• s. x² – Iċ eom on gōman ġēna swētra “I am sweeter still in the mouth” in a riddle of the Exeter Book.^[1][18]
• a1225 – Middle English muchel swete “much sweetness” as a noun.^[16]

Meanings

Adjective

1. sweet to the taste.^[11][12][9]
2. sweet-smelling, fragrant.^[12][13]
3. pure, untainted.^[12][1]
4. pleasant, agreeable; of sound, harmonious.^[12][1]

Word family

• swētnes
• swētlīċe
• swētan
• swōte
• unswēte

Descendants

• Middle English swete (→ English sweet; Scots swet; Scots sweit)^[1]

Related words

• swōt

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 227
3. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c 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
5. ^ a b c d e Healey, Antonette diPaolo; Price Wilkin, John; Xiang, Xin, eds. (2009), Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus, Toronto: Dictionary of Old English Project
6. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 503
7. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.7
8. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 398
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swœ̄te
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 952
12. ^ a b c d e Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 189
13. ^ a b Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. wyrt, swēte
14. ^ Bierbaumer, Peter; Sauer, Hans; Klug, Helmut W.; Krischke, Ulrike, eds. (2007–), Dictionary of Old English Plant Names, Graz, oldenglish-plantnames.org, p. s.v. æppel, swēte
15. ^ Middendorff, H. (1902), Altenglisches Flurnamenbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 131
16. ^ 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)
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. 296
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. 223