*fra-

Reconstruction

A prefix *fra- in Ringe, Orel, Köbler and Wiktionary.^[1][2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pro- (“before, in front of”):^[4] Ringe derives it from PIE *pró "in front, forward", comparing Ancient Greek πρό (pró),^[1] and EWA, Feist and Orel also trace it to IE *pro.^[5][6][2]

Morphology

An inseparable prefix,^[6] used in Gothic with both verbs and nouns.^[5] EWA, following Krahe and Meid, takes the nominal prefix to have been stressed originally, which the oldest Old High German compounds confirm by contracting its vowel with a following root vowel, as in Old High German frâza.^[5] Ringe notes that *fraleusaną "to lose" never lacks its prefix in any daughter; the union of such preverbs with their verbs could be dated to Proto-Germanic, but a detail of the clitics in Gothic argues for caution.^[7]

Evidence

The prefix is common only in Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰- (fra-).^[5][6] In Old English and Old High German it was dying out; in Old High German it was mostly replaced by Old High German fir- as a verbal prefix, and it survived better as a nominal prefix, above all in a negative sense.^[5] Old High German also has a preposition fra (“for, because of”), recorded only once, in a gloss of the 8th or 9th century.^[5] Wiktionary lists Old Norse for- as well,^[4] but de Vries takes the prefix of Old Norse compounds such as fordjarfa to be borrowed from German.^[8] Feist compares Avestan fra-, Ancient Greek πρό (pró), Latin pro-, Lithuanian pra- and Old Irish ro-.^[6]

Competing analyses

How *fra- relates to the prefix Old High German fir- is disputed.^[9] EWA traces both, with fora and furi, to the IE root *per- in its variants, and doubts that fir- arose from fra- by metathesis;^[9] G. Schmidt derives it from *fer-, as in Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐍂- (fair-), while EWA, if it is the unstressed partner of stressed *fra-, starts from *pr̥-, Germanic *fur-, like 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂 (faur).^[9] Köbler accordingly derives Old Saxon far- and Old High German fir- from both *far-, *fer- and *fra-.^[10][11] Kroonen derives *furi "in front of, for" from a different form, *prh₂-i.^[12]

Meanings

1. away, off^[4][3]
2. completely, fully, up^[4]

In Old High German the basic sense is "away", also in the negative sense "away from the right way";^[5] in *fra- with *afla- "strength" it expresses something improper or excessive.^[13]

Derivatives

• Verbs: *fraleusaną "to lose", *fraetaną "to devour", *frawerþaną "to perish", *fraberaną "to refrain; to endure" and *frakunnaną "to despise".^{[14][15][16][17][18]}
• *frakunþaz "despised, wicked".^[19]
• *frafla- "insolent, wicked" in Köbler,^[20] which EWA analyses as *fra- with *afla- "strength".^[13]
• *fram "forward; from", which Feist derives from *fra- with the IE suffix *-mo-;^[21] Orel writes *frama.^[22]
• *frawjô "lord", which Orel, following Streitberg, derives from IE *pro through *fra-,^[2] and Feist from *pro with the suffixes *-wo- and *-io-.^[23]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍆𐍂𐌰- (fra-), a verbal and nominal prefix^[6][5]
• Old English: for-, also fer-,^[24] and fracoþ (“wicked, despicable”), which Köbler derives from *fra-^[25]
• Old Frisian: for-^[26]
• Old Saxon: far-, also fer-, for- and fur-^[10]
• Old High German: fra-, as a verbal prefix mostly replaced by fir-^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 114
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 112
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fra-
4. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fra-
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. fra
6. ^ a b c d e Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 104
7. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 239
8. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 137
9. ^ a b c 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. fir-
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. far
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fir
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 161
13. ^ a b 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. fravali
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fraleusaną
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fraetaną
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *frawerþaną
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fraberaną
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *frakunnaną
19. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *frakunþaz
20. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *frafla-
21. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 105
22. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 111
23. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 107
24. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. for
25. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fracū̆þ
26. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. for-