*fehu

Reconstruction

The word is *fehu in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *fehu- in Kroonen and Köbler,^[3][4] *fexu in Orel^[5] and *feχu in LÄGLOS, which also gives Proto-Norse *ᚠᛖᚺᚢ (*fehu).^[6][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *péḱu (“livestock”).^[1][2] Kroonen calls it an ancient PIE u-stem derived from the root *pek- "to pluck wool", and concludes that the first livestock kept by the Indo-Europeans were sheep, not cows.^[3]

Morphology

A neuter u-stem,^[3][7] one of the few neuters of that class that can be securely reconstructed.^[7] The nominative and accusative singular had no ending.^[8] Gothic kept the final -u, and West Germanic kept it after a short syllable,^[9] but it was lost in Old Norse fé.^[9] Casaretto notes that the lack of Verner's law points to stress on the root.^[10] In Old High German the vowel varies between i and e: EWA explains i from the nominative, where *-u raised the *e, and e from the old genitive *fehō.^[11]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu) in Gothic, Old Norse fé in Old Norse, and Old English feoh, Old Saxon fehu and Old High German fihu in West Germanic,^[3] with Old Frisian fiā in Old Frisian.^[5] It was also the name of the f-rune.^[4][2] De Vries cites the rune names ⟨feu⟩ in the Abecedarium Nordmannicum and ⟨fiu⟩ in a Leiden manuscript,^[12] and the three f-runes on the Gummarp stone are mostly thought to stand for the name of the rune.^[13] A loan into Finnic is uncertain: LÄGLOS finds it semantically attractive to explain Finnish pihatto (“cattle shed”) from the Germanic word, but notes that forms with i in the first syllable are found only in parts of West Germanic.^[6] Outside Germanic, Orel lists Latin pecū and Lithuanian pẽkus, both "cattle".^[5]

Competing analyses

Feist mentions Osthoff's and Schrader's view that *peku first meant a wool-bearing animal, a sheep, and was related to Ancient Greek πέκος (pékos, “fleece”), as a guess going further than the comparison.^[14][15] Bammesberger, after Wissmann, takes Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍉𐌽 (gafaihon, “to take advantage of”) as a verb derived from this noun,^[16] while EWA puts it with another family.^[11]

Meanings

1. livestock, cattle^[3][1][2]
2. property, wealth^[1][2]
3. the name of the f-rune^[4][2]

Gothic used the word for "money", which Feist compares with Latin pecūnia.^[14] Köbler also gives "sheep".^[4]

Derivatives

• *fehugernaz "greedy for money", with Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍃 (faihugairns), and *fehufrekaz "covetous", with Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌺𐍃 (faihufriks).^[2]
• *fehufangą "taking of property" and *fehuhūsą "stable, stall".^[2]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu, “money, property”)^[14]
• Old Norse: fé (“cattle, property, money”)^[12]
• Old English: feoh (“cattle, herd, property, money”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: fiā (“cattle, goods, money”)^[18]
• Old Saxon: fehu (“cattle, property”)^[19]
• Old High German: fihu (“cattle, beast of burden, animal, property”)^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 114
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fehu
3. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 134
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fehu-
5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 97
6. ^ 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. 56
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 304
8. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 151
9. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk (1995), The Germanic 'Auslautgesetze', Leiden Studies in Indo-European 4, Amsterdam / Atlanta: Rodopi
10. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
11. ^ 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. fihu
12. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fé
13. ^ Looijenga, Tineke (2003), Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 179
14. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. faihu
15. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 122
16. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 97
17. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. feoh
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fiā
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fehu