*ek

Reconstruction

The pronoun is *ek in Wiktionary and Ringe, with an unstressed form *ik;^[1][2] *eka in Orel,^[3] *ek(a) in Kroonen^[4] and *ek- beside *ik- in Köbler.^[5] Antonsen writes Proto-Germanic *ek beside *ekan,^[6] and EWA *ek(an).^[7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *éǵh₂ (“I”), the PIE pronoun of the first person.^[2][4] Kroonen writes the PIE form *h₁eǵ-H-om,^[4] Wiktionary *eǵh₂óm, through an earlier *eka,^[1] and Orel *eĝō.^[3]

Morphology

The nominative singular of the personal pronoun of the first person.^[8] Ringe reconstructs nominative *ék or *ik, accusative *mek or *mik and dative *miz; dual *wet or *wit, plural *wīz or *wiz.^[8] The nominative is the regular outcome of the PIE form; the accusatives add the PIE particle *-ge, and the genitives are really forms of the possessive adjective.^[9]

The unstressed *ik shows the raising of e to i in unstressed monosyllables: Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German continue it, while Old Norse ek continues the stressed form.^[10][11] In West Germanic the initial i- of the weak form was generalised.^[7]

Evidence

The pronoun is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌹𐌺 (ik), Old Norse ek, and Old English ic, Old Frisian ik, Old Saxon ik and Old High German ih in West Germanic.^[4] It is one of the oldest runic words: Proto-Norse ᛖᚲ (ek) opens the inscription of the Gärdlösa clasp, which Antonsen dates to 200 AD,^[6] and the inscription of the Gallehus golden horn of 400 AD.^[12] De Vries lists further Norwegian and Swedish runic ek of about 400 (Valsfjord, Nordhuglen, Rö) and a disyllabic Proto-Norse ᛖᚲᚨ (eka) at Söderköping in the 6th century.^[13] Feist lists enclitic forms, "I am called", on the Seeland bracteate, the Lindholm bone piece and the Kragehul spear shaft of shortly after 400.^[14] The pronoun is also recorded in Crimean Gothic.^[14][7]

Competing analyses

Kroonen holds that the Germanic form must go back to *eka, because Old Swedish iak shows breaking of the vowel;^[4] EWA draws the same conclusion from the Old Swedish and Old Danish forms and the runic enclitic forms.^[7] Kroonen further allows that emphatic Old High German ihha may continue a *ekō matching Ancient Greek ἐγώ (egṓ) and Latin egō.^[4] Ringe argues that the final vowel of the disyllabic forms survives in High and Low German and so must have been long, and thinks it most likely a particle optionally attached to the pronoun.^[15]

Meanings

1. I^[4][3][1]

Derivatives

• *mīnaz "my", the possessive pronoun belonging to it, Kroonen's *mīna-.^[16]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌹𐌺 (ik, “I”)^[14]
• Proto-Norse: ᛖᚲ (ek)^[6]
• Old Norse: ek (“I”)^[13]
• Old English: ic (“I”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: ik (“I”)^[18]
• Old Saxon: ik (“I”)^[19]
• Old High German: ih (“I”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ek
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 119
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 83
4. ^ 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. 116
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *ek-
6. ^ a b c Antonsen, Elmer H. (1975), A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions, Sprachstrukturen A 3, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. no. 6
7. ^ a b c d e 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. ih
8. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 322
9. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 236
10. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
11. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 149
12. ^ Antonsen, Elmer H. (1975), A Concise Grammar of the Older Runic Inscriptions, Sprachstrukturen A 3, Tübingen: Niemeyer, p. no. 23
13. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 98
14. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 174
15. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 163
16. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 369
17. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ic
18. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ik
19. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. ik