*haubudą

Reconstruction

The word is *haubudą in Wiktionary,^[1] *xauƀuđan in Orel, who also allows *xauƀiđan,^[2] and *haubuda- or *haubida- in Köbler.^[3][4] Kroonen writes *ha(u)beda- ~ *ha(u)buda-.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *káput (“head”), through an earlier *hafud;^[1] Kroonen sets up *kh₂p-ut-, a word of western Europe, comparing Latin caput.^[5]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[3] Kroonen points to a problematic variation in the root, *hab- against *haub-, and in the suffix, *-ed- against *-ud-.^[5] He suggests an original paradigm *hafuþ, genitive *habweþaz, from *kh₂p-ut, *kh₂p-uet-(o)s, in which *haub- arose in the oblique cases by metathesis from *habw-.^[5] Wiktionary makes the same suggestion.^[1]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸 (haubiþ), Old Norse hǫfuð, and Old English hēafod, Old Frisian hāved, Old Saxon hōbid, Old Dutch hovit and Old High German houbit in West Germanic.^[5] Crimean Gothic had hoeft.^[3] The root *haub- must be Proto-Germanic because Gothic has it, but Latin caput and Old English hafola (“head”) show that *hab- is older.^[5] Wiktionary takes *habudą as the original form, kept in most North Germanic dialects, against *haubudą or *haubidą in Gothic, West Germanic and some North Germanic.^[1] The Gothic word is in Wulfila's Bible.^[6]

Competing analyses

Orel sets up two words: *xaƀuđan, behind Old Norse hǫfuð and Old English hēafod, identical with Latin caput and probably with the Sanskrit word for a tuft of hair on the back of the head;^[7] and *xauƀuđan, as secondary, perhaps taboo, variants of it, following Noreen.^[2] He lists Marstrander, who explained the first syllable by the following u, and Pokorny, who saw the influence of *xūƀōn.^[2] Since the metathesis account implies an old proterodynamic paradigm, Kroonen rejects the loan from a non-IE European language proposed by Beekes and Boutkan.^[5] Köbler only compares a root *kap- "to seize".^[3]

Meanings

1. head^[5][2][3][1]

Old English also used it for "top, source, beginning",^[8] Old Frisian for "person" and "single head of cattle",^[9] and Old High German for "chief, leader".^[10]

Derivatives

• *xauƀuđa-lausaz beside *xaƀuđa-lausaz "headless", a compound with *lausaz.^[11]
• Kroonen relates *hafe/alan-, whence Old English hafola (“head”), and perhaps *hafna- "vessel".^[5]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌿𐌱𐌹𐌸 (haubiþ, “head”)^[6]
• Old Norse: hǫfuð (“head, leader, man”), also haufuð^[12]
• Old English: hēafod (“head, top, source, beginning”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: hāved (“head, person”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: hōvid (“head, top”)^[13]
• Old High German: houbit (“head, chief, top”)^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *haubudą
2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *xauƀuđan
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *haubuda-
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *haubida-
5. ^ 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. 215
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. haubiþ
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *xaƀuđan
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hēafod
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hāved
10. ^ a b 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. houbit
11. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *xaƀuđa-lausaz
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. hǫfuð
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hôvid