weorþan

Forms

weorþan (strong class 3; third-person singular present wierþ, past singular wearþ, past plural wurdon, past participle worden)^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-West Germanic *werþan, from Proto-Germanic *werþaną (“to become”).^[1][4] The strong verb is common Germanic: Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌸𐌰𐌽 (wairþan), Old Norse verða, Old Frisian wertha, Old Saxon werthan and Old High German werdan.^[5][6][7] Outside Germanic it is the verb “to turn”, Proto-Indo-European *wert-, seen in Latin vertō (“to turn”) and Sanskrit वर्तते (vártate, “turns, rolls”).^[6][7][5] Kroonen notes that the meaning “to turn” became “to become” in Germanic.^[5]

Before /r/ and a consonant Proto-Germanic /e/ was broken to ⟨eo⟩, giving weorþan.^[4] The ⟨d⟩ of the past plural and the past participle beside the ⟨þ⟩ of the present is the alternation of Verner's law.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is the Pastoral Care (Hatton 20, 890×897): On ðæm gesundfulnessum ðæt mod wierð upahafen “in prosperity the mind becomes puffed up”.^[9][10] Bosworth and Toller's first quotation comes from the laws of Æthelberht, Gif banes blice weorðeþ “if an exposure of the bone occurs”.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

Used absolutely the verb means “to come to be, arise, happen”; with a predicative noun or adjective, or with tō and the dative, it means “to become, turn into”.^[11][13] With a past participle it forms the passive, “to be (done)”.^[11][1]

It lived on as Middle English worthen.^[14]

Timeline

• 890×897 – mod wierð upahafen “the mind becomes puffed up” in the Pastoral Care.^[9][10]
• s. x¹ or x²/⁴ – gesemed ne wurden “were not reconciled” in the Old English Orosius.^[15][10]
• s. x/xi – wearð “happened, became” in Beowulf.^[13][16]

Meanings

Verb

1. to come to be, arise; to happen, come to pass.^[11][13][7]
2. to become, with a predicative noun or adjective, or with tō and the dative.^[11][13]
3. (auxiliary) to be, forming the passive with a past participle.^[11][1]

Word family

• āweorþan
• forweorþan
• ġeweorþan

Descendants

• Middle English worthen^[14]

Related words

• wyrd

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 343
3. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 350
4. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 182
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 581
6. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 457
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weorþan
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 347
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 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 f Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement, p. 1200
12. ^ Liebermann, F. (1906), Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen, vol. II.1: Wörterbuch, Halle: Niemeyer, p. 239
13. ^ 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. weorðan
14. ^ 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)
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. 249
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. 344