*þurpą

Reconstruction

The noun is *þurpą in Wiktionary and Ringe,^[1][2] *þurpa- in Kroonen and Köbler,^[3][4] who also gives *þerpa- and *þrepa-, and *þurpan in Orel.^[5] LÄGLOS gives the Proto-Norse form as *þorpa.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *treb- (“building, dwelling”): Ringe sets up PIE *treb- ~ *tr̥b- "building",^[2] and Wiktionary *trab-, *treb- "room, dwelling, settlement".^[1]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem,^[3][4] masculine in Old English.^[5] Ringe cites it among the words where PIE *b became Proto-Germanic *p.^[2]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍀 (þaurp), Old Norse þorp, Old English þorp, Old Frisian thorp, Old Saxon thorp and Old High German dorf.^[5][3] The Gothic word occurs in the accusative singular at Nehemiah 5:16.^[7] Finnish torppa (“cottager's holding, hut”) is a loan;^[6] Karsten took it from Proto-Norse, but it is usually seen as an Old Swedish loan, and LÄGLOS finds early borrowing unlikely because of the social development the word presupposes.^[6] De Vries notes Norman place names such as Le Torp from the Norse word.^[8]

Competing analyses

Kroonen finds the connection with Lithuanian trobà (“cottage, farmhouse”) and Old Irish treb (“hamlet, village”) straightforward, but notes that the word cannot be separated from Old Norse þyrpast (“to crowd, to throng”), so that Germanic seems to have kept an original meaning "to gather"; he rejects the links with Hittite tarupzi (“to collect”) and with Latin turba (“commotion”).^[3] Feist thought that two stems may have merged, one for "crowd", as in the Latin word, and one for "to build, to dwell", and reports Meringer's guess that the first meaning was "a clearing in the forest".^[9] Orel connects the word with his *þrepan "shelf in a wall", which he compares with Old Welsh treb "dwelling" and Latin trabs (“beam, rafter”).^[5][10] Köbler compares instead a root Proto-Indo-European *tu̯er- (“to turn, to whirl”).^[4]

Meanings

1. village, farmstead, rural settlement^[2][1][4]
2. gathering of people, crowd, troop^[3][1][4]
3. cleared land^[1]

Kroonen marks "crowd" with a query.^[3] Feist thought the basic meaning, "village" or "crowd", cannot be settled.^[9] Gothic used the word for "field, farmland",^[9] Old Norse also for a ledge of rock and a burial mound,^[8] and Old Frisian also for farmland and fallow land.^[11]

Derivatives

• *þurpjan- "to crowd", which Kroonen reconstructs from Old Norse þyrpast and Faroese tyrpa seg.^[3]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌸𐌰𐌿𐍂𐍀 (þaurp, “field, farmland”)^[9]
• Old Norse: þorp (“farm, farmhouse, village”)^[8]
• Old English: þorp (“estate, farm, village”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: therp (“village, farmland, fallow land”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: thorp (“village, place, estate”)^[13]
• Old High German: dorf (“village, farmstead, estate”)^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *þurpą
2. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 118
3. ^ a b c d e f g Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 553
4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *þurpa-
5. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 430
6. ^ a b c 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. 305
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þaúrp
8. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. þorp
9. ^ a b c d Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. þaurp
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 426
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. therp
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þorp
13. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. thorp
14. ^ 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. dorf