haler

Forms

haler (verb)^[1][2]

• hasler^[2]

Hasler is the spelling of the Roman du Mont Saint-Michel.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Proto-West Germanic *halōn (“to fetch, bring”), a West Germanic verb,^[2][3][4] supported by Old High German halōn and Middle Dutch halen with the same sense.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg take it from an Old Low German verb and note that the Scandinavian languages borrowed the word too, Old Norse having no such verb.^[5] Gamillscheg instead derives it from Old Norse hala (“to haul”).^[6]

It became a seafaring term in French and passed as such into Italian alare, Spanish halar and Portuguese alar.^[2] In Norman the verb kept the general sense “to pull”.^[5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Voyage de saint Brendan, an Anglo-Norman poem of the first quarter of the 12th century, where the monks lost at sea do not know quels cordes deient haler “which ropes they should haul”.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From the start the verb belongs to the sea: Thomas's Tristan has Halent ancres, levent lur tref “they haul up anchors, raise their sail”.^[2] Used without an object it meant “to haul on the ropes”, and at the end of the 13th century a poem uses the reflexive of the sun climbing the sky.^[2] The DHLF dates “to pull with a rope” from about 1180 and towing a boat from the bank from the 13th century.^[4] It continues as French haler, a seafaring term.^[5]

Timeline

• 1100–1125 – haler in the Voyage de saint Brendan.^[2][7]
• 1121–1125 – the first record cited by the AND.^[8]
• 1150–1175 – hasler in the Roman du Mont Saint-Michel.^[2][9]
• 1175–1200 – Halent ancres in Thomas's Tristan.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. to haul with a rope, hoist (a boat, an anchor).^[2][8]
2. (intransitive) to haul on the ropes.^[2]
3. (reflexive) to climb, ascend.^[8][2]

Anglo-Norman

The earliest records are insular: the Voyage de saint Brendan is Anglo-Norman, and the AND first cites haler from 1121–1125, with the senses “to haul, hoist” and, reflexive, “to climb”.^[7][8] Middle English took the verb as halen about 1200, used of arrows, bowstrings, reins and anchors, the source of the English word hale “to drag”.^[10][11][2]

Descendants

• Middle French haler (→ French haler)^[3]
• Middle English halen (borrowed; → English hale)^[10][11]

Usage notes

A different verb hasler “to burn (of the sun)” is the source of French hâler; the AND heads it hasler.^[12][13] Greimas puts that sense under his head haler, with hasler as a variant.^[14]

References

1. ^ Tobler, Adolf; Lommatzsch, Erhard (1925–2002), Altfranzösisches Wörterbuch, 11 vols., Berlin / Wiesbaden / Stuttgart: Weidmann / Steiner, p. 4:856
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Baldinger, Kurt; Möhren, Frankwalt; Städtler, Thomas, eds. (1971–2021), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF), Heidelberg: Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften; DEAFél / DEAFpré, deaf-server.adw.uni-heidelberg.de, p. s.v. haler
3. ^ a b Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16:130
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. haler
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France, p. 354
6. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 545
7. ^ a b c Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. BrendanW
8. ^ a b c d Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. haler 1
9. ^ Möhren, Frankwalt, Dictionnaire étymologique de l'ancien français (DEAF): Complément bibliographique, electronic version (DEAFBiblEl), Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, alma.hadw-bw.de/deafbibl (texts by siglum, with their dates), p. ChronSMichelB
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
12. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–), p. s.v. hasler
13. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25:575
14. ^ Greimas, Algirdas Julien (1979), Dictionnaire de l'ancien français jusqu'au milieu du XIVe siècle, 2nd ed., Paris: Larousse (printing of 1988), p. s.v. haler