*garwijaną

Reconstruction

The verb is *garwijaną in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *ʒarwijanan in Fulk,^[3] *ʒarwjanan in Orel^[4] and *garwjan in Köbler.^[5] Kroonen cites it by its stem *garwjan-.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Germanic *garwaz (“ready”), a factitive verb to that adjective.^[6][4][7]

Morphology

A weak verb of the first class, with the suffix *-ija- after a heavy syllable,^[1] which Ringe gives in the third person as plural *garwijanþi and singular *garwīþi.^[8] He lists it among the factitive verbs formed to adjectives, beside *fullijaną "to fill" and *hailijaną "to heal".^[7] Riecke likewise classes the Old High German verb as a factitive derived from an adjective with a w-suffix.^[9]

Evidence

The verb is attested in North and West Germanic: Old Norse gørva and Old Norse gera, Old English gierwan, Old Saxon garwian and Old Saxon gerwian, and Old High German garawen.^[6][4] No Gothic form is listed.^[6][4] In Old Norse the verb took over the sense "to do", as Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌿𐌾𐌰𐌽 (taujan) did in Gothic.^[10] Riecke records the Old High German verb already in the Hildebrandlied.^[9] The Norse verb has many by-forms, which de Vries calls not yet finally explained.^[11] Middle English borrowed it from Norse.^[11]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes the base *garwaz as probably a prefixed variant of *arwa- "ready, fast", that is *ga-arwa-, and compares a Walser German form without the prefix meaning "to toil".^[6][12] Orel relates the adjective to *ʒeraz.^[13] Köbler gives two possible roots, *gʰrebʰ- "to seize" or *gᵘ̯ʰer- "hot", both with a question mark.^[5]

Meanings

1. to prepare, to make ready^[6][1][5][2]

Old Norse developed the sense "to do, to make",^[6][11] Old English "to put on, to clothe, to adorn", Old Saxon "to dress", and Old High German "to equip, to decorate".^[6]

Derivatives

• From the same adjective: *garwja- "clothing", which Kroonen sees in an Old Saxon word for "clothing, official dress";^[6] *ʒarwīn "gear, apparel" and *ʒarwiþō "gear, harness" in Orel.^[14][15]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: gera (“to make, to do, to prepare”), also gørva^[11][16]
• Old English: gierwan (“to prepare, to cook, to adorn, to clothe”)^[17]
• Old Saxon: garwian (“to prepare, to dress”), also gerwian^[18]
• Old High German: garawen (“to prepare, to equip, to decorate”)^[19]

No Gothic form is listed.^[6][4]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 250
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *garwijaną
3. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
4. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒarwjanan
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *garwjan
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 283
8. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 252
9. ^ a b Riecke, Jörg (1996), Die schwachen jan-Verben des Althochdeutschen: Ein Gliederungsversuch, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. 496
10. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 185
11. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 163
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 37
13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒarwaz
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒarwīn
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *ʒarwiþō
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. gera
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gierwan
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. garwian
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. garawen