*grautaz

Reconstruction

The adjective is *grautaz in Wiktionary,^[1] *ʒrautaz in Orel,^[2] and the stem *grauta- in Kroonen, Köbler and Heidermanns.^[3][4][5] EWA sets it up as West Germanic *grau̯ta-.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrewd- (“to rub, to grind”), from a pre-Germanic *gʰrowd-o-s;^[1] Kroonen derives it from *gʰroud-o-.^[3]

Morphology

Kroonen calls it a regular o-grade adjective to the strong verb *greutaną, *greutan- in his spelling.^[3] Heidermanns calls it an early verbal adjective to a strong verb found only in traces,^[5] and EWA a verbal adjective to *greu̯te/a- "to grind", with the ablaut of *rau̯đa- "red" beside *reu̯đe/a- "to redden".^[6]

Evidence

The adjective is attested only in West Germanic:^[5] Old English grēat, Old Frisian grāt, Old Saxon grōt and Old High German grōz.^[3] Old Frisian also spells it grōt, a variant from *au.^[7] Where the earliest records use it concretely, it mostly describes thick, strong, elongated things.^[5] North Germanic has only a noun, Old Norse grautr (“porridge”),^[2] which EWA traces to an older i-stem *grau̯ti- because of its Old Norse genitive and the umlauted Scandinavian forms.^[6] De Vries reports a Saami loan from Proto-Norse *grautiz for that noun.^[8] Gothic has no form.^[4]

Competing analyses

Orel compares Lithuanian graudùs (“brittle”), Latvian grauds (“grain”) and Proto-Slavic *gruda (“heap”);^[2] Wiktionary sets beside it the same Slavic noun, glossed "pile", and *grudьnъ (“crude, lousy”).^[1] Orel reports that Schmidt and Bersu linked it to Latin grandis (“great, large”).^[2] Köbler sets it under PIE *gʰreud- "to rub", with a further link to *gʰer-.^[4]

Meanings

1. coarse, crude^[3][1][4]
2. big, large; thick, strong^[1][4][5]

Kroonen takes "coarse" as the original meaning, still close to a Palatinate iterative meaning "to cut up into uneven pieces"; the meaning later shifted to "big" in West Germanic, where the word replaced *mekila-.^[3] EWA likewise derives "big" through "coarse" from "coarse-grained".^[6]

Derivatives

• *grautēn "to become big", in Old English grēatian and Old High German grōzēn.^[9]
• *grautī- "size", in Old Frisian grête and grōzī.^[10]
• A denominal ja-verb "to make big", in grēta and Middle High German grœzen,^[6][5] and a noun in *-nassu-, grēatnes (“coarseness, thickness, size”).^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: grēat (“great, wide; thick, coarse”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: grāt (“big; high; loud; violent”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: grōt (“big, mighty, extensive, heavy”)^[13]
• Old High German: grōz (“big, strong, long, thick”)^[6]
• Old Norse: grautr (“groats, porridge”), a noun^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *grautaz
2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒrautaz
3. ^ 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. 187
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *grauta-
5. ^ a b c d e f Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. grauta-
6. ^ a b c d e f g Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. grôz
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 217
8. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. grautr
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *grautēn
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *grautī-
11. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. great
12. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. grāt
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. grôt