*sebun

Reconstruction

The numeral is *sebun in Ringe, Köbler and Wiktionary,^[1][2][3] *seƀun in Orel and Fulk^[4][5] and *sebun- in Kroonen.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *septḿ̥ (“seven”).^[1][4][3] Ringe traces the steps: *septḿ̥ became *septún and, by Grimm's law, *seftún; under the influence of "ten" and "nine" this became *seftúnt, which lost its middle t by dissimilation, *sefúnt, and gave *sebun by Verner's law.^[7] Wiktionary similarly starts from an earlier *sebunt and a Pre-Germanic *sepḿ̥t.^[3]

Morphology

A cardinal numeral.^[2] Unlike the other Indo-European languages, which point to *sept-m, the Germanic form points to *sep-m without the t.^[6] Ringe notes that the dissimilatory loss of the t removed the best evidence for the outcome of a word-final syllabic nasal, which must therefore be reconstructed by inference.^[1] Old Norse sjau comes from an older *sjǫbu;^[8] Fulk takes the ending of that word from the numeral "eight", added to the stem *se-,^[5] and Lehmann reports explanations as a remodelling after the numerals "eight" or "two".^[9]

Evidence

The numeral is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌿𐌽 (sibun), Old Norse sjau, Old English seofon, Old Frisian sigun, Old Saxon sibun and Old High German sibun.^[6] Crimean Gothic has sevene.^[10][11] Feist notes a form with the t kept, for *seftun, in the Lex Salica.^[10] Its cognates include Ancient Greek ἑπτά (heptá), Latin septem, Old Irish secht, Lithuanian septynì and Proto-Slavic *sedmь.^[4]

Competing analyses

Kroonen thinks it was lost in the ordinal *sebunþ/dan- from *septm-tHó-, by dissimilation against the t of the suffix, especially in a zero-grade form *sptm-tHó-, and that the final *-n of *sebun, which would normally have been dropped, also comes from the ordinal.^[6] Schaffner likewise reads the ordinal as dissimilated from Pre-Germanic *septm̥to-.^[12] Ringe instead places the loss in the cardinal, after a t had been added by analogy with "ten".^[13] Feist explained the kept n by analogy with the ordinal as well.^[10] The view that the word is a late loan from a para-Semitic language, comparing Akkadian sebū(m), is mentioned by Kroonen, who finds the dissimilation more likely.^[6]

Meanings

1. seven^[6][2][3]

Derivatives

• *sebundô "seventh",^[14] in Orel *seƀunđōn or *seƀunþōn,^[15] in Schaffner *sebunþa(n)- beside *sebunda-.^[12]
• *sebuntehun "seventeen".^[16]
• *sebuntēhundą "seventy": Ringe explains it as Pre-Proto-Germanic *sebunt-ēhund-, reanalysed as *sebun-tēhund- once "seven" had lost its final stop; the new element *-tēhund- then spread to "eighty" and "ninety", as Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳 (sibuntehund) shows.^[17]
• *sebundi- "group of seven", only in Old Norse sjaund,^[18] which keeps the nasal of the numeral.^[5]
• *sebunstirniją "Pleiades".^[19]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍃𐌹𐌱𐌿𐌽 (sibun, “seven”)^[10]
• Old Norse: sjau (“seven”)^[8]
• Old English: seofon (“seven”)^[20]
• Old Frisian: sigun (“seven”)^[21]
• Old Saxon: siƀun (“seven”)^[22]
• Old High German: sibun (“seven”)^[23]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 105
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sebun
3. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sebun
4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *seƀun
5. ^ a b c Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
6. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 429
7. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 123, 229
8. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. sjau
9. ^ 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. sibun
10. ^ a b c d Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. sibun
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sibun
12. ^ a b Schaffner, Stefan (2001), Das Vernersche Gesetz und der innerparadigmatische grammatische Wechsel des Urgermanischen im Nominalbereich, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 103, Innsbruck
13. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 123
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sebundô
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *seƀunđōn
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sebuntehun
17. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 230
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sebundi-
19. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sebunstirniją
20. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. seofon
21. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sigun
22. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sivun
23. ^ 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. sibun