*grunduz

Reconstruction

The word is *grunduz in Wiktionary^[1] and *ʒrunđuz in Orel;^[2] Kroonen cites the stem *grundu-,^[3] Köbler *grundu- beside *grunþu-,^[4] and Schaffner the pair *grunþu- : *grundu-.^[5]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it from Proto-Indo-European *gʰrem- (“floor, settlement”), from a pre-Germanic tu-stem *gʰrm̥tús.^[1]

Morphology

A masculine u-stem.^[4][3] Kroonen explains its variants by a mobile accent: the tu-stem had root stress in the nominative and suffix stress in the genitive, and the genitive became the basis of the d of Gothic and West Germanic, while Old Norse grunnr goes back to a form with *þ and is a secondary variant.^[3] That such an analogy was still possible proves to him that the Verner alternation in the paradigm survived the breakup of Proto-Germanic into Proto-Norse.^[3] In Old Norse the word passed into the a-stems.^[5]

Evidence

The word is found in all three branches.^[3] Gothic has no simple *grundus, but its stem is proved by the compound Gothic 𐌲𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌿𐍃 (grunduwaddjus, “foundation wall”) and by 𐌰𐍆𐌲𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌸𐌰 (afgrundiþa, “abyss”).^[5] Old Norse grunnr (“ground, bottom”) goes back to *grunþu;^[6] West Germanic has Old English grund, Old Frisian grund, Old Saxon grund and Old High German grunt.^[3] Orel puts Old Norse grund (“field”) under a feminine *ʒrunđiz.^[2]

Competing analyses

Orel derives it from *ghrn̥-tu-, to a root *ghren- seen in Ancient Greek χραίνω (khraínō, “to touch slightly, to smear”) and in Lithuanian pã-grindas (“lake bottom”);^[2] Wiktionary finds the Lithuanian comparison less likely, and reports that Kroonen connects a Proto-Indo-Iranian word for "permanent building", which would make the root *ǵʰrem-.^[1] Köbler also derives it from a root *gʰren- "to graze, to grind".^[4] De Vries connects Old Norse grund with grind (“fence”), so that the first meaning would have been "fenced plot", following J. Trier, but finds it strange that only the general sense "ground" is attested.^[7]

Meanings

1. ground, foundation^[1][4]
2. floor^[3]

Old English used the word also for "abyss", "earth", "plain", "depth" and "sea",^[8] Old Norse grunnr for the bottom of the sea,^[5] and Old Frisian for landed property and the bottom of a water.^[9]

Derivatives

• *grundijaną and *grundōną "to establish, to lay the foundations of".^[10][11]
• *ermunagrunduz "the earth", with *ermunaz;^[12] Orel's *ermena-ʒrunđiz.^[13]
• Compounds in Orel: *ʒrunđu-lausaz "boundless, bottomless" and *ʒrunđu-fastaz "fast aground".^[2]

Reflexes

• Gothic: only in 𐌲𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍅𐌰𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌿𐍃 (grunduwaddjus, “foundation wall”)^[14]
• Old Norse: grunnr (“ground, bottom”)^[6]
• Old English: grund (“ground, bottom, abyss, earth, sea”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: grund (“ground, landed property, bottom of a water”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: grund (“ground, bottom, depths, abyss”)^[15]
• Old High German: grunt (“ground, abyss, foundation”)^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *grunduz
2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 144
3. ^ a b c d e f g Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. xxxii
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *grundu-
5. ^ a b c d Schaffner, Stefan (2001), Das Vernersche Gesetz und der innerparadigmatische grammatische Wechsel des Urgermanischen im Nominalbereich, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 103, Innsbruck, p. 492
6. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. grunnr
7. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. grund
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. grund
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. grund
10. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *grundijaną
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *grundōną
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ermunagrunduz
13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 85
14. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. grunduwaddjus
15. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. grund
16. ^ 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. grunt