twelf

Forms

twelf^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *twalif (“twelve”).^[1][2][3] The numeral is common Germanic: Gothic 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌻𐌹𐍆 (twalif), Old Norse tólf, Old Frisian twelif, Old Saxon twelif and Old High German zwelif.^[2][3][4]

It is a compound of the word for "two", *twai, and an element *-lif "left over", from Proto-Indo-European *leykʷ- (“to leave”): "two left over" after ten.^[5][6][1] Lithuanian dvýlika (“twelve”) is built the same way, and endleofan “eleven” has the same structure.^[2][3][4] Old English shows only the form of one syllable, with the vowel of the second syllable lost.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The numeral is recorded from the 830s, in the will of Abba the reeve (833×839), whose single sheet is held to be contemporary: a payment sie simle to higna blodlese ymb twelf monað agefen “is to be paid every twelve months for the community's blood-letting”.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

Before a noun it is usually undeclined; used as a noun or after its noun it takes the endings twelfe, twelfa, twelfum.^[10][11] Reckoning texts use it as a bare number: þriwa feower beoð twelf “three times four are twelve”.^[12] Its derivatives include twelfhynde, of the class of men whose wergild was 1,200 shillings, and twelfwintre “twelve years old”.^[13][10][14]

It lives on as Middle English twelf, now English twelve.^[1][5]

Timeline

• 833×839 – ymb twelf monað in the will of Abba, a contemporary single sheet.^[8][9]
• 890×897 – ðara twelf heahfædera “of the twelve patriarchs” in the Pastoral Care.^[15][9]
• s. ix/x – rixode twelf gear “reigned twelve years” in the annal for 547 of the Parker Chronicle.^[16][9]
• s. x/xi – twelf wintra tīd in the Beowulf manuscript.^[17][18]

Meanings

Numeral

1. twelve.^[10][19][6]
2. as a noun: twelve, a number in reckoning.^[12]

Word family

• twelfta
• twelfhynde
• twelfwintre

Descendants

• Middle English twelf (→ English twelve; Middle Scots twelf; Middle Scots tuelf)^[1]

Related words

• endleofan
• twā

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 529
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 413
4. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 356
5. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. twelf
7. ^ Campbell, A. (1959), Old English Grammar, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. § 390
8. ^ a b The Electronic Sawyer: Online Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Charters, revised ed. by S. E. Kelly and R. Rushforth, King's College London / University of Cambridge, esawyer.lib.cam.ac.uk, p. S 1482
9. ^ 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
10. ^ a b c Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1022
11. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. § 4.87
12. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. Suppl. 726
13. ^ Clark Hall, J. R. (1960), A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th ed., with a supplement by H. D. Meritt, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 351
14. ^ Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1023
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. 499
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. 83
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
18. ^ 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. twelf
19. ^ Sweet, Henry (1896), The Student's Dictionary of Anglo-Saxon, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 199