*drepaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *drepaną in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *đrepanan in Orel^[3] and *drepan in Köbler.^[4] Kroonen cites the stem *drepan-.^[5] Ringe treats it as a Proto-Northwest Germanic verb.^[1]

Etymology

Following Kroonen, Wiktionary has it ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrebʰ- (“to grind, to crush, to kill”), a root elsewhere attested only in Balto-Slavic;^[2] Kroonen takes *drepan- as a back-formation to the iterative *drupp/bōn-, a zero-grade variant of *drapp/bōn-, both derived from the strong verb *draban- "to hew", from *dʰróbʰ-e-.^[5][6]

Morphology

A strong verb that wavers between classes IV and V: it belongs to class IV in Old High German, past participle gitroffan, to class V in Old Norse, past participle drepinn, and vacillates in Old English.^[1] Ringe also notes that the evidence for its past participle is conflicting.^[7] Mailhammer counts it in class V.^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested only in North and West Germanic: Old Norse drepa, Old English drepan, Old High German treffan, with Middle Low German and Middle Dutch forms.^[5] Old Saxon has it in the compound Old Saxon ovardrepan (“to surpass”).^[3][9] Wiktionary gives as cognates Lithuanian drė̃bti (“to strike”), Latvian drêbt (“to beat”) and Proto-Slavic *drobìti (“to crush”).^[2]

Competing analyses

Traditionally the verb is traced to a Pre-Germanic *dʰréb-e- with a root-final *b, as in LIV.^[5] Kroonen rejects this because the *p arose inside Germanic, and for the same reason rejects a non-Indo-European loan, against Laker and others.^[5] Mailhammer puts the verb among those with no IE etymology.^[8] De Vries thought it probably a by-form of Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌳𐍂𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (gadraban, “to hew out”).^[10] Orel relates it to a Slavic *drebiti "to crush".^[3]

Meanings

1. to hit, to strike^[5][4][2]
2. to kill^[1]

Old Norse used the verb for "to strike, to beat, to knock" and "to kill, to slay".^[5] Old High German also had "to aim" and "to concern".^[11]

Derivatives

• Orel's *đrepan, in Old Norse drep (“blow”) and Old English gedrep (“stroke”);^[12] Köbler's *drepa- "blow", as a neuter and a masculine.^[13]
• Köbler's *drēpi- "for hitting", in Old Norse dræpr (“to be killed, ripe for slaughter”).^[14]
• With *ga-: *gadrepan "to beat", in Old English gedrepan and Old High German gitreffan.^[15]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: drepa (“to strike, to push, to kill”)^[10]
• Old English: drepan (“to hit, to strike, to kill, to defeat”)^[16]
• Old Saxon: only the compound ovardrepan (“to surpass”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: drepan^[2]
• Old High German: treffan (“to hit, to aim, to concern”)^[11]

References

1. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 274
2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *drepaną
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *đrepanan
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *drepan
5. ^ 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. 101
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 98
7. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 211
8. ^ 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. 221
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ovardrepan
10. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. drepa
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. treffan
12. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *đrepan
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *drepa-
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *drēpi-
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *gadrepan
16. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. drepan