*līką

Reconstruction

The word is *līką in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] *līkan I in Orel,^[3] and the stem *līka- in Köbler;^[4] Kroonen heads it as the first of three homonymous stems.^[5]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image, likeness; similar, like”), with the sense shifting from "similar" to "having a similar shape", "likeness" and "body".^[1] Kroonen derives it within Germanic, as *leig-o-, from the adjective "similar, equal" of Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (galeiks), so that it first meant "likeness, shape".^[5]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[4][5] Orel notes a feminine *līkiz beside it,^[3] and in Old High German the feminine i-stem forms far outnumber the neuter ones.^[6] Ringe finds the noun as the second member of many bahuvrīhi compounds, in which it meant "shape, form"; in all the attested languages, including Gothic, it became a suffix meaning "of … kind".^[2]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺 (leik) in Gothic, Old Norse lík in Old Norse, and Old English līc, Old Frisian līk, Old Saxon līk and Old High German līh in West Germanic.^[3] EWA calls it a common Germanic word.^[6] A homonym meaning "leech-line, bolt-rope", Orel's *līkan II, is kept apart and compared with Latin ligō (“to bind”);^[7][1] de Vries takes the Old Norse word in this sense from Middle Low German.^[8]

Competing analyses

Orel compares Tocharian A lek and Tocharian B lek (“appearance, body”) and Lithuanian lỹgus (“like”).^[3] Feist thought the connections outside Germanic uncertain, and the Baltic words more likely to belong with Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺𐍃 (galeiks).^[9] De Vries calls the etymology disputed and sets out three views: Zupitza and Wood started from "likeness", comparing the Lithuanian words for "image" and "equal";^[8] Uhlenbeck started from "shape" and compared Old Prussian laygnan (“cheek”);^[8] Falk and Torp took it as "that which is formed", with the Old Church Slavonic words for "to form" and "face".^[8] Kroonen also allows that the "leech-line" word is the same noun, with the sense passing from "to connect" through "to compare" to "to be alike".^[1] For the suffix, Fulk thinks the development simpler if *-līk- was an adjective all along, so that *xwi-līkaz first meant "like what?".^[10]

Meanings

1. body^{[5][3][4][2][1]}
2. corpse, dead body^[5][4][1]
3. as the second member of compounds, shape, form^[2]

Gothic used the word also for "flesh",^[9] Old Saxon for "shape",^[11] and Old High German for "bodily shape" and the covering of a shield.^[6]

Derivatives

• *-līkaz "-like, -ly", whose sense "similar to" Wiktionary takes to be the original one.^[12]
• *līkahamô "human body, bodily frame; corpse", with *hamô;^[13] Orel's *līka-xamōn, originally "body covering".^[14]
• Orel's *līka-mannz, Old Norse "gravedigger", Old English a person who deals with the corpse.^[15]
• *līkinōną "to compare", perhaps from this noun.^[16]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺 (leik, “body, flesh, corpse”)^[9]
• Old Norse: lík (“body, corpse”)^[17]
• Old English: līc (“body, corpse”)^[18]
• Old Frisian: līk (“corpse”)^[19]
• Old Saxon: līk (“body, corpse, shape”)^[11]
• Old High German: līh (“body, flesh, bodily shape, corpse”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *līką
2. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 327
3. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *līkan I
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *līka-
5. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 336
6. ^ a b c d 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. lîh
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *līkan II
8. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 356
9. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. leik
10. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
11. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. līk
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *-līkaz
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *līkahamô
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *līka-xamōn
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *līka-mannz
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *līkinōną
17. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. lík 1
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. līc
19. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. līk