*jungaz

Reconstruction

The adjective is *jungaz in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] *junʒaz in Orel,^[3] *juŋgaz in Fulk,^[4] and the stem *junga- in Kroonen and Köbler.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂yuHn̥ḱós (“young”),^[2][1] which Wiktionary derives from *h₂yuh₁en- "young".^[1] Ringe compares Sanskrit "youthful" and Latin iuvencus (“steer, young bull”).^[7]

Morphology

An a-stem adjective.^[8] Ringe traces it as *h₂yuHn̥ḱós > *yuunkós > *yūnkós, with the loss of the laryngeal and contraction, > *yunkós by Osthoff's law, though he grants that the order of these changes is not certain.^[7] The *g is from *h by Verner's law, *yunhós > *jungaz.^[2][1] The comparative *junhizō and superlative *junhistaz kept *h, because the accent fell on the root in those forms, as in Vedic.^[9][10]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍃 (juggs), Old Norse ungr, and Old English geong, Old Frisian jung, Old Saxon jung and Old High German jung in West Germanic.^[5] The Gothic adjective and its comparative Gothic 𐌾𐌿𐌷𐌹𐌶𐌰 (jūhiza) are in Wulfila's Bible.^[8] In Norse the initial j was lost, as in Old Norse ungr; the loss is dated by the use of the old j-rune for a vowel, first on the Vallentuna dice of about 600.^[4] Krause finds it already lost in a name element on the Årstad stone of the middle of the 6th century.^[11] Outside Germanic, Orel compares Latin iuvencus, Old Irish óac (“young”) and Welsh ieuanc (“young”).^[3]

Competing analyses

Kroonen reports the usual reconstruction *h₂iu-Hn-ko-, a formation to the PIE word for "lifetime" with the possessive Hoffmann suffix, so that the word first meant "having lifetime left".^[12] He himself would derive it directly from a verbal base *Hieu- "to mature", seen in Tocharian B yäw- (“to ripen, to mature”), so that "young" grew out of "maturing".^[13] Bammesberger notes that Hoffmann rejected the derivation from *yu(w)n̥kó- altogether.^[14]

Meanings

1. young^[5][3][1]

Old English also used the word for "new, fresh",^[15] Old High German for "virginal, new",^[16] and the Old Frisian superlative meant "last", as in the phrase for "the Last Day".^[17]

Derivatives

• *jugunþiz "youth";^[18] Kroonen's *ju(w)unþi-, a ti-stem,^[19] Orel's *juʒunþiz.^[20]
• *jungilingaz "young man";^[21] Orel's *junʒalinʒaz.^[22]
• *jungijaną "to make young".^[23]
• Orel's *junʒōn "young of an animal" and *junʒa-līkaz "youthful".^[24][25]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌾𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍃 (juggs, “young”)^[26]
• Old Norse: ungr (“young”)^[27]
• Old English: geong (“young, new, fresh”)^[15]
• Old Frisian: jung (“young”)^[17]
• Old Saxon: jung (“young”)^[28]
• Old High German: jung (“young, virginal, new”)^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *jungaz
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 123
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *junʒaz
4. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 124
5. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 274
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *junga-
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 102
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. juggs
9. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 316
10. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 174
11. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1971), Die Sprache der urnordischen Runeninschriften, Heidelberg: Winter
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 274–275
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 275
14. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 253
15. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. geong
16. ^ 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. jung
17. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. jung
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *jugunþiz
19. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 276
20. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *juʒunþiz
21. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *jungilingaz
22. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *junʒalinʒaz
23. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *jungijaną
24. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *junʒōn
25. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *junʒa-līkaz
26. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 181
27. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ungr
28. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. jung