*gāną

Reconstruction

The verb is *gāną in Wiktionary,^[1] and Ringe sets up *gāną beside a stem *gai-.^[2] Kroonen heads it *gēn-,^[3] Orel and Fulk write *ʒēnan,^[4][5] Köbler *gēn or *gǣn.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰeh₁- (“to go, to reach”).^[1] Kroonen derives the Old High German forms from an athematic present *gēmi, *gēsi, *gēþi from *ǵheh₁-mi, *ǵheh₁-si, *ǵheh₁-ti.^[3] Orel connects Sanskrit जहाति (jáhāti, “to leave, to abandon”),^[4] which LIV sets under a root *ǵʰeh₁- "to leave behind".^[7]

Morphology

An athematic verb.^[4] It had no inherited preterite: the languages use the strong preterite of *ganganą, except Old English, whose suppletive weak preterite Old English ēode is usually thought cognate with Gothic 𐌹𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰 (iddja).^[5] Wiktionary derives this suppletive past from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).^[1] Kroonen notes that the verb existed alongside *gangan-.^[3]

Evidence

Kroonen lists North and West Germanic forms, Scandinavian ones such as Danish gå, Old English gān, Old Frisian gān and gēn, Old Saxon gān, and Old High German gān and gēn.^[3] Köbler lists Old Norse gá (“to go”).^[8] Instead, Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gaggan) with the preterite 𐌹𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰 (iddja) serves in Wulfila's language,^[9] and East Germanic shows the verb only in Crimean Gothic, where it is recorded as geen "to go".^[4][10] Kroonen holds that the Scandinavian forms cannot be Low German loans, in view of the nasalised vowel of the Selbu dialect.^[3]

Competing analyses

Kroonen finds that most Northwest Germanic forms point to *gēn-, but that Old English gān can only come from *gai-, implying an i-present *ghh₁-oi-ti, plural *ghh₁-i-énti.^[3] He also considers, after Kluge and Kortlandt, that *gai- arose from the perfective prefix *ga- and *-ī- from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey-, citing Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰 (gaiddja) beside 𐌹𐌳𐌳𐌾𐌰 (iddja).^[3] Fulk reports that a stem *ʒai- beside West Germanic *ʒǣ- is usually reconstructed for the Old English and Old Frisian forms, so by Mottausch and Ringe, but finds no plausible parallel for it outside Anglo-Frisian.^[11] He reconstructs instead a disyllabic, thematised prehistoric Old English present, singular *ʒa-ǣ, *ʒa-is, *ʒa-iþ, which also accounts for the two Old High German stems.^[11] Köbler sets the verb under PIE *ǵʰengʰ- "to stride" and compares *ǵʰē- "to leave, to go".^[6]

Meanings

1. to go^[3][4][6]
2. to walk^[1]

Old English also used the verb for "to happen".^[10] Kroonen, following Seebold, thinks that *stēn- "to stand" was formed by analogy to this verb.^[12]

Derivatives

• *bigēn "to commit, to perform", in Old English begān and Old Saxon bigān (“to celebrate”).^[13]
• *fargēn "to pass away", in Old English forgān and Old High German firgān.^[14]

Reflexes

• Crimean Gothic: geen^[4]
• Old Norse: gá (“to go”)^[8]
• Old English: gān (“to go, to move, to wander; to happen”)^[10]
• Old Frisian: gān (“to go”)^[15]
• Old Saxon: gān (“to go”)^[16]
• Old High German: gān (“to go, to walk, to run, to come”), also gēn^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gāną
2. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 219, 295
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 174
4. ^ a b c d e f Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒēnan
5. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. § 12.62
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *gēn
7. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *ǵʰeh₁-
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. gā
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 166
10. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. gān
11. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. § 12.63
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 477
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *bigēn
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fargēn
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gān
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gān
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gān