*sprekaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *sprekaną in Wiktionary,^[1] *sprekanan in Orel^[2] and *sprekan in Köbler;^[3] Kroonen cites the stem *sprekan- and Seebold the verb as SPREK-A-.^[4][5]

Etymology

Kroonen has it from Proto-Indo-European *spregʰ- (“to crackle”), from a present *sprégʰ-e-,^[4] and Wiktionary calls this root the probable source.^[1]

Morphology

A strong verb of class V in Mailhammer;^[6] Old Saxon and Old High German inflect it in class IV.^[7][8] Kroonen thinks the root-final k, instead of the g expected from *spregʰ-, was taken over from the iterative *spurkōn-.^[4][9] Beside Old English sprecan there is specan, and Old High German has some forms without r:^[5] Kroonen explains the variation from an alternation in an old preterite, third person singular *sprake, plural *spurkun, or from the influence of the iterative,^[4] and Seebold from loss of r between a labial and IE g.^[5]

Evidence

The verb is attested only in West Germanic: Old English sprecan, Old Frisian spreka, Old Saxon sprekan and Old High German sprehhan.^[4][2] Köbler gives the Old English verb as West Germanic *sprekan.^[10] The only North Germanic relative is Old Norse spraka (“to crackle”), which Seebold and Kroonen connect,^[5][4] and the Icelandic and Faroese spreka are Low German loans;^[4] de Vries thinks spekja (“speech”) was borrowed from West Germanic.^[11] LÄGLOS rejects Katz's derivation of Finnish pirskua (“to splash”) from the verb, as phonetically impossible.^[12]

Competing analyses

Mailhammer classes the etymology as uncertain.^[6] Kroonen compares Lithuanian spragėti (“to crackle, to sputter”) and separates the Sanskrit and Greek verbs for "to crackle", such as Ancient Greek σφαραγέομαι (spharagéomai, “to crackle, to sizzle”).^[4] Orel instead relates the verb to Welsh ffraeth (“funny, odd”) and, further, to the Sanskrit, Greek and Lithuanian verbs.^[2] Seebold finds the Welsh word and Albanian shpreh (“to express, to teach, to hope”) the best comparisons, and the link with a root *sper-g- "to crackle" possible but not certain;^[5] Wiktionary mentions a PIE *spreg- set up on the strength of the Albanian verb.^[1] LÄGLOS thinks the old meaning may have been "to crackle, to rustle".^[12]

Meanings

1. to speak^[4][3][1]

Old Frisian also used the verb for "to sue" and "to claim",^[13] and Old High German for "to proclaim, to preach, to name".^[8]

Derivatives

• *sprēkō- "speech".^[4]
• *sprēkjaz "eloquent, sprightly".^[14]
• *sprekō- "speaker", a weak masculine.^[15]
• With prefixes, *bisprekan "to discuss, to blame" and *gasprekan "to speak".^[3]

Reflexes

• Old English: sprecan (“to speak, to say, to converse”)^[16]
• Old Frisian: spreka (“to speak, to say, to sue”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: sprekan (“to speak, to say, to talk”)^[17]
• Old High German: sprehhan (“to speak, to talk, to say”)^[8][18]

No Gothic or Old Norse form continues the verb.^[4][2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sprekaną
2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *sprekanan
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sprekan
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 469
5. ^ a b c d e Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. SPREK-A-
6. ^ a b 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. 222
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sprekan
8. ^ 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. sprechan
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 471
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sprecan
11. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. spekja
12. ^ 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. 68
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. spreka
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *sprēkjaz
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sprekō-
16. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sprecan
17. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. SPREKAN
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sprehhan