*fōdrą

Reconstruction

The title covers two neuter nouns, "sheath" and "fodder", which Wiktionary gives as two words of the same form *fōdrą.^[1] Kroonen has one entry, *fōdra- "fodder", and calls it a merger of two instrumental nouns;^[2] Orel separates *fōđran I, with the Gothic word for "sheath", from *fōđran II "fodder";^[3][4] Köbler has *fōdra- (1) "fodder" and *fōdra- (2), under which he puts both the words for "sheath" and those for "cartload".^[5] Ringe writes *fōdrą "sheath".^[6]

Etymology

Both words are from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂- (“to protect; to graze, to feed”):^[1] the word for "sheath" from its sense "to protect", in Kroonen's and Ringe's account,^[2][7] and the word for "fodder" from *peh₂-dʰro-, in Kroonen's reconstruction, like Latin pābulum (“fodder”) from *peh₂-dʰlo-.^[2]

Morphology

Neuter a-stems.^[2][5] Kroonen calls both instrumental nouns.^[2] Wiktionary analyses them as the root and a suffix PIE *-dʰrom or *-tróm, the forerunner of *-drą.^[1] Ringe uses the word to show the development of PIE *pah₂- through *pā- to Germanic *fō-.^[7] Schaffner treats *fōþra- and *fōdra-, "container; case, sheath", as a neuter a-stem with grammatical change,^[8] and explains the d of the word for "sheath" by an accent on the suffix taken over from the collective plural.^[9]

Evidence

The word for "sheath" is attested in all three branches.^[2][3] Gothic has only the accusative singular Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐍂 (fodr, “sheath”), at John 18:11.^[10][8] West Germanic has Old English fōdor (“case, sheath, container”),^[11] Old Frisian fōder (“lining of clothes”)^[12] and Old High German fuotar (“case, sheath”), the last only a few times in glosses of the 11th to 13th centuries.^[13] Old Norse has fóðr (“case, sheath”),^[14] which EWA thinks probably a loan from Middle Low German.^[13] LÄGLOS derives Finnish huotra (“sheath”) from Proto-Germanic *fōđra-, Proto-Norse *fōdra;^[15] EWA takes the Finnic word from Scandinavian.^[13]

The word for "fodder" is found only in North and West Germanic: Old Norse fóðr (“food”),^[14] Old English fōdor (“food, fodder”)^[16] and Old High German fuotar (“food, fodder, provisions”), the last from the 8th century on.^[17] Both words passed into Romance: Old French fuerre meant "sheath" and also "fodder".^[13][17]

Competing analyses

For the word for "sheath", Kroonen compares Tocharian A pās- (“to guard”);^[2] Feist, with Sanskrit पात्र (pā́tra, “container”), traced it to an IE root "to protect".^[18] Orel equates it with Hittite pattar (“basket”) and the Sanskrit word for "receptacle, vessel",^[3] which Wiktionary reads as a derivation from PIE *peh₃- "to drink", a "drinking vessel".^[1] Kroonen sets up a separate *fōþra- "load; vessel; fodder", which he thinks merged with a *fōþra- from PIE *péh₃-tro- "drinking cup" and with the word for "fodder".^[19]

For the word for "fodder", Kroonen relates it to the verb *fōdijaną "to feed", and finds it less attractive to explain the dental of that verb as a back-formation from the noun.^[2] Wiktionary allows a derivation from the root of the verb and of *fōdô "food", *peh₂-dʰ- or *peh₂-t-, with the suffix *-r-om.^[1] Orel derives it from an IE *pā-tro-, which he also finds in the Armenian word for "herd", from *pā- "to graze".^[4] De Vries took the two Germanic words as one.^[3]

Meanings

1. sheath, case, container^[1][6][8]
2. fodder, feed^[2][5][1]

Köbler glosses his second *fōdra- "cartload, vessel",^[5] the sense of the West Germanic words that Kroonen puts under *fōþra-.^[19] Old Norse also had the word for "lining" in clothes.^[15]

Derivatives

• *fōdrōną "to feed animals, to give fodder", from the word for "fodder".^[20]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐍂 (fodr, “sheath”)^[18]
• Old Norse: fóðr (“food; case, sheath”)^[14]
• Old English: fōdor (“food, fodder; case, sheath, container”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: fōder (“lining of clothes”)^[12]
• Old High German: fuotar (“case, sheath; food, fodder, provisions”)^[13][17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fōdrą
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 150
3. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *fōđran I
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *fōđran II
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fōdra-
6. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 90
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 172
8. ^ a b c Schaffner, Stefan (2001), Das Vernersche Gesetz und der innerparadigmatische grammatische Wechsel des Urgermanischen im Nominalbereich, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 103, Innsbruck, p. 194
9. ^ Schaffner, Stefan (2001), Das Vernersche Gesetz und der innerparadigmatische grammatische Wechsel des Urgermanischen im Nominalbereich, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 103, Innsbruck, p. 175
10. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fodr
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fōdor
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fōder
13. ^ a b c d e 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. fuotar¹
14. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fóðr
15. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 126
16. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fōdor
17. ^ a b c 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. fuotar²
18. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fodr
19. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 152
20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fōdrōną