*weganą

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *weganą in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] *weʒanan in Orel^[3] and *wegan in Köbler.^[4] Kroonen cites the stem *wegan-,^[5] Mailhammer +wega-.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *weǵʰ- (“to convey, to transport”), from the PIE third person *wéǵʰeti in Wiktionary.^[1] LIV sets up the full-grade present *u̯ég̑ʰ-e- of the root *u̯eg̑ʰ- "to float; to drive".^[7] Kroonen calls it a PIE verb associated with transport by carts.^[5]

Morphology

A strong verb of class V.^[6][8] Mailhammer puts it among the strong verbs with an accepted Indo-European etymology.^[6] LIV lists the preterite, Old Norse vá and Old High German wag, under the PIE perfect.^[7] Ringe contrasts its present stem with that of *ligjaną "to lie", which has a j.^[2]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gawigan) in Gothic, Old Norse vega in Old Norse, and Old English wegan, Old Frisian wega, Old Saxon wegan and Old High German wegan in West Germanic.^[5] Gothic has it only once, with the prefix.^[4] Outside Germanic, Orel and Kroonen compare Latin vehō (“to carry, to convey”), Lithuanian vèžti (“to carry in a vehicle”) and Proto-Slavic *vezti (“to carry, to drive”).^[3][5] Old Norse vega "to fight" is a different verb, Köbler's *wigan.^[9][10]

Meanings

1. to move^[5][4][2][1]
2. to carry^[5][1]
3. to weigh^[1]
4. to consider^[4]

Kroonen thinks that "to weigh" arose from "to lift".^[5] De Vries notes that Germanic had lost the sense "to drive".^[11] Old Norse used it for "to swing, to lift, to weigh, to dare".^[12]

Derivatives

• *wegaz "way, road", derived from the verb according to Kroonen and Orel;^[5][13] Villanueva Svensson derives it from an e-grade adjective "ridden on".^[14]
• *wagjaną "to move around, to shake", an iterative-intensive,^[15][16][17] from a causative-iterative *u̯og̑ʰ-éi̯e-.^[7]
• *wagna- "wagon", a no-stem to the root,^[16] Orel's *waʒnaz, which is also recorded in Crimean Gothic.^[18]
• *wakk/gōn- "to move, to shake", an a-grade iterative.^[19]
• *wihtiz "weight", with *-þiz.^[20]
• *wōgiz "moving a lot" and *wēgiz "weighing, able to be weighed", vṛddhi gerundives.^[21][22][23]
• *wēgaz "wave, sea", which Orel derives from the verb and Wiktionary from the same root.^[24][25]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐍅𐌹𐌲𐌰𐌽 (gawigan, “to move, to shake”)^[26]
• Old Norse: vega (“to swing, to lift, to weigh, to dare”)^[27]
• Old English: wegan (“to move, to carry, to bring; to weigh, to measure”)^[28]
• Old Frisian: wega (“to weigh, to bring”)^[29]
• Old Saxon: wegan (“to weigh up, to ponder”)^[30]
• Old High German: wegan (“to move, to weigh, to consider”), as Kroonen lists it^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *weganą
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 249
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *weʒanan
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wegan
5. ^ 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. 577
6. ^ a b c 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
7. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *u̯eg̑ʰ-
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. vega
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. vega 2
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wigan
11. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 661
12. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 650
13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *weʒaz
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wegaz
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wagjaną
16. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 565
17. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 283
18. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *waʒnaz
19. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 568
20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wihtiz
21. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wōgiz
22. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wēgiz
23. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 592
24. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *wēʒaz
25. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wēgaz
26. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ga-wigan
27. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. vega 1
28. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wegan
29. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wega
30. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. wegan