*fulgāną

Reconstruction

The verb is *fulgāną in Wiktionary,^[1] *fulgēn- in Kroonen,^[2] *fulʒēnan in Orel^[3] and *fulgēn or *fulgǣn in Köbler.^[4] Wiktionary's suffix is -ā-;^[1] Kroonen, Orel and Köbler write -ē-, and Kroonen's preform is *plk-(éh₁)-ie-.^[1][2][3]

Etymology

Wiktionary tentatively derives it from Proto-Indo-European *pelḱ- (“to turn, to twist, to wind”).^[1]

Morphology

A weak verb.^[2][3] The daughters disagree on the class: Old High German folgēn is a weak verb of the third class, rarely of the second, while the verbs of the other languages belong to the first or second class.^[5] Kroonen takes Old Norse fylgja and Old English fylgan from a formation *fulgjan-,^[2] which Wiktionary enters separately as *fulgijaną, a zero-grade ye-present.^[6]

Evidence

The verb is found only in North and West Germanic: Old Norse fylgja, Old English folgian, Old Frisian folgia, Old Saxon folgon and Old High German folgēn.^[3][2] It is not recorded in Gothic, which uses Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐍃𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (laistjan) for Greek "to follow".^[5]

Competing analyses

Kroonen reconstructs a root found only in Germanic,^[2][7] and links *fulgjan- with Old English feolan (“to proceed, to go, to reach”) from *felhan-, *pelk-e-.^[2] He finds the outside comparisons unreliable: Breton heul (“to follow”) probably continues *selgh-, and the connection with the Slavic verbs for "to crawl" must be abandoned because their accent points to *plǵ-eh₂-.^[2] Orel, on the other hand, holds the verb identical with Proto-Slavic *pьlzěti (“to crawl”), after Anikin.^[3] Wiktionary allows a merger with *felhaną "to conceal", which also meant "to go".^[1] Köbler calls the etymology unknown.^[4]

Meanings

1. to follow^[1][3][4]
2. to accompany^[2]

Old English also used it for "to serve" and "to obey",^[8] and Old Frisian for "to agree", "to swear as an oath-helper" and "to prosecute".^[9]

Derivatives

• Orel's *fulʒiþō and Köbler's *fulgiþō "following, retinue".^[10][11]
• Köbler's *fulgjō- "guardian spirit", from Old Norse fylgja (“retinue, guardian spirit”).^[12]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: fylgja (“to follow, to accompany”)^[13]
• Old English: folgian (“to follow, to accompany, to serve, to obey”) and fylgan (“to follow, to pursue”)^[8][14]
• Old Frisian: folgia (“to follow, to agree”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: folgon (“to follow, to obey”)^[15]
• Old High German: folgēn (“to follow, to accompany, to agree”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fulgāną
2. ^ 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. 159
3. ^ a b c d e f Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *fulʒēnan
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fulgēn
5. ^ 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. folgên
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fulgijaną
7. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *felhaną
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. folgian
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. folgia
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *fulʒiþō
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fulgiþō
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fulgjō-
13. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fylgja
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fylgan
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. folgon