*landą

Reconstruction

The word is *landą in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] *lanđan in Orel,^[3] and the stem *landa- in Kroonen and Köbler.^[4][5] Antonsen writes Proto-Germanic *land-a-.^[6]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“land, heath”);^[1] Kroonen takes it as an o-grade thematic noun *londʰ-o- to a root *lendʰ- "unused land", which he counts as European rather than Indo-European,^[4] and Ringe starts from a post-PIE *landhom "open area".^[2]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[4][5][7] Kroonen allows that its ablaut variants split off from a static paradigm, nominative *lóndʰ, genitive *léndʰ-s.^[4] Ringe cites it, with its Old Norse reflex, as an example of a stop that became final through later losses and was not devoiced in Old Norse.^[2]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 (land) in Gothic, Old Norse land in Old Norse, and Old English land, Old Frisian lond, Old Saxon land and Old High German lant in West Germanic.^[4] The oldest record is in a compound personal name on the Tørvika stone A in Hordaland, which Antonsen dates to 400–450 AD; he reads its first element as Proto-Germanic *land-a-.^[6] Finnic borrowed the word early: LÄGLOS thinks Finnish lanta (“flat land, meadow, lowland”) hardly separable from Proto-Germanic *landa-, Proto-Norse *landa.^[8] Some scholars have taken it for a loan through Saami, which LÄGLOS finds unlikely, since the word is also found in South Estonian and in Finnish dialects of Häme.^[8]

Competing analyses

Outside Germanic the cognates are only Celtic, Baltic and Slavic:^[9] Orel compares Old Irish land (“open place”) and Old Prussian lindan (“valley”), and a Slavic word for "waste ground".^[3] Lehmann notes that Pokorny nevertheless posits a PIE root meaning "open land, heath",^[9] while Kroonen treats the root as European.^[4] Within Germanic, Feist compares the ablauting Swedish linda (“fallow field”) of the dialects of Sweden and Old Norse lundr (“grove”);^[10] Kroonen sets beside it a full-grade Elfdalian word for "overgrown field, meadow" and the zero-grade *lunda/ō- "grove".^[4][11]

Meanings

1. land, area of ground^[4][3][5][1]
2. valley^[5]

Gothic used the word for the farmland of the clan, an estate and a country;^[10] Old Frisian also for "landed property", "territory" and the people of a land and their assembly;^[12] Old High German for land as opposed to town or water, and "homeland", "field".^[7]

Derivatives

• *landijaną "to land".^[13]
• Compounds: *awjōlandą "island", *friþulandą "friendly land", *markalandą "borderland" and *landasiduz "custom of the land";^[1] in Orel, *ƀūwa-lanđan "homeland" and *fōstra-lanđan "native land".^[14][15]
• *lunda/ō- "grove", a zero-grade formation closely related to it.^[11]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐌽𐌳 (land, “farmland, estate, country”)^[10]
• Old Norse: land (“land”)^[16]
• Old English: land (“land, earth”), also lond^[17]
• Old Frisian: lond (“land, ground, territory”), also land^[12]
• Old Saxon: land (“land, region”)^[18]
• Old High German: lant (“land, homeland, field”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *landą
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 143
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 235
4. ^ 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. 326
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *landa-
6. ^ a b Antonsen, Elmer H. (1975), A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions, Sprachstrukturen A 3, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. Tørvika stone A
7. ^ a b c 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. lant
8. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 169
9. ^ a b Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. land
10. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. land
11. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 344
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. lond
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *landijaną
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 65
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 110
16. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. land
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. land
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. land