*stikaną

Reconstruction

The verb is *stikaną in Ringe and Wiktionary.^[1][2] Kroonen heads it *stekan-,^[3] Orel *stekanan, with *stikanan as an alternative reconstruction;^[4] Köbler writes *stekan or *stikan,^[5] and Seebold heads it STIK-A-, with the attested stek-a-.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teyg- (“to be sharp, to stab, to goad”):^[2] Kroonen derives it from a zero-grade present *stig-e-,^[3] and EWA from *stik-e/a- to the root *(s)tei̯g- "to stab, to be pointed".^[7]

Morphology

Ringe gives the principal parts of a strong verb of class I, *stikaną, *staik, *stikun, *stikanaz,^[1] and counts it among the unaffixed strong presents that had endings with the voiceless Verner alternants.^[8] The attested verbs, however, inflect like class IV or V, as Old High German stechan does, with the past stah, plural stâchun, and the participle gistochan.^[7][9] Seebold, as Fulk reports, takes it as a verb refashioned into class V although its derivatives show it to have belonged to class I.^[10] Mailhammer puts +stika- in his category B, an inexact IE etymology.^[11]

Evidence

The strong verb is found only in West Germanic: Old Frisian steka, Old Saxon stekan and Old High German stechan.^[3][7] EWA notes that it is missing in East and North Germanic;^[7] North Germanic continues only the derived weak verb *stikōi̯e/a-, in Old Norse stika (“to impale, to measure”).^[7] The derivatives Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐍃 (stiks, “point”)^[12] and 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌺𐍃 (staks, “scar”) are Gothic.^[3] Old French estechier (“to strike, to stab”) was borrowed from West Germanic, probably from an Old Dutch *stekan.^[7] Outside Germanic, Kroonen compares Latin īnstīgō (“to stimulate, to incite”),^[3] and EWA and Orel also Ancient Greek στίζω (stízō, “to prick, to tattoo”).^[7][4]

Competing analyses

The root vowel is the problem.^[3][7] Kroonen thinks the zero-grade present *stikan- became *stekan- through a-mutation;^[3] EWA thinks the form was reanalysed within Proto-Germanic and a new paradigm with the past *stak- built on *stek-, perhaps with influence from the root *(s)tegh- "to be pointed, to stab".^[7] Orel leaves both *stekanan and *stikanan open, and connects only the second with Latin īnstīgō and Ancient Greek στίζω (stízō).^[4] Casaretto takes Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌺𐍃 (staks) as an a-grade derivative that already presupposes the remodelling of *stika- into *steka-.^[13]

Meanings

1. to stick, to stab^[1][3][2]
2. to prick, to pierce^[5][6]

Old Frisian also used the verb for "to raise up",^[14] and Old High German for "to bore through" and "to fix".^[7]

Derivatives

• *stikkōną "to stick, to fix", an iterative which Kroonen and Wiktionary derive from a zero-grade *stig-néh₂-;^[15][16] beside it, according to Kroonen, the secondary iterative *stukkōną.^[3]
• *stikiz "a prick", a zero-grade i-stem,^[17] as in Seebold's stik-i-z "prick", Gothic 𐍃𐍄𐌹𐌺𐍃 (stiks).^[6]
• *stukkaz "stick, post", which Wiktionary derives from the verb or, in another theory, from PIE *(s)tewg-.^[18]

Reflexes

• Old Frisian: steka (“to prick, to stick; to raise up”)^[14]
• Old Saxon: stekan (“to prick, to stick, to thrust in”)^[9]
• Old High German: stechan (“to prick, to stab, to bore through”)^[7]
• Old Norse: only the derived weak verb stika (“to impale, to measure”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 267
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stikaną
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 476
4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 373
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *stekan
6. ^ a b c Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 467–468
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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. stechan
8. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 208
9. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. STEKAN
10. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
11. ^ 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
12. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 269
13. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. steka
15. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 479
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stikkōną
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stikiz
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stukkaz