*mōtą

Reconstruction

A neuter noun *mōtą in Wiktionary,^[1] *mōtan in Orel (his *mōtan I)^[2] and *mōta- in Köbler, who also allows a ja-stem *mōtja-.^[3]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it from Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to encounter, to come”);^[1] Köbler gives a doubtful PIE *mōd- "to meet, to come".^[3]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[3][1] Orel notes that the Old Saxon and Middle High German forms are feminine.^[2]

Evidence

The noun is attested only in North and West Germanic: Old Norse mót (“meeting”), Middle English mót, Old Saxon mōt and Middle High German muoz.^[2] Old English has mōt and gemōt "assembly, council, court".^[4][5] Gothic lacks the noun but has the verb Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (gamotjan, “to meet”), built on the same base.^[6][7]

Competing analyses

Orel derives the noun from *metanan "to measure".^[2] Wiktionary instead compares Old Armenian մատչիմ (matčʻim, “to approach”),^[1] and Kroonen bases the preterite-present *mōtaną on the root *mod- of that Armenian verb.^[6] Feist thought the Germanic root *mōt- meant "to move freely" and found no etymology for it, hardly one in the root *med- "to measure".^[8] Mailhammer files the verb under "no IE etymology".^[9]

Meanings

1. meeting^[2][3][1]

Old English used the word for an assembly, a council, a law court and a hostile encounter,^[4] Middle High German for a single combat of knights.^[2]

Derivatives

• *mōtijaną "to meet, to encounter", formed with *-janą;^[10] Orel too derives his *mōtjanan from the noun,^[7] while Kroonen ties his *mōtjan- closely to the verb *mōtan-.^[6]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: mót (“meeting, encounter”)^[11]
• Old English: mōt (“assembly, council, court”)^[4]
• Old Saxon: mōt, in Orel's list^[2]
• Orel lists no Gothic form of the noun.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōtą
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *mōtan I
3. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōta-
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōt
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gemōt
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 372
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *mōtjanan
8. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ga-motan
9. ^ Mailhammer, Robert (2007), The Germanic Strong Verbs: Foundations and Development of a New System, Trends in Linguistics 183, Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 223
10. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōtijaną
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. mōt