*lētaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *lētaną in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *lētanan in Orel^[3] and *lētan in Köbler;^[4] Kroonen cites the verb by its stem *lētan-, and Seebold under LÆT-A-.^[5][6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *leh₁d- (“to let, allow, leave”):^[7] Kroonen derives it from an e-present *léh₁d-e-, found only in Europe,^[5] and Ringe glosses the root "release", with a question mark.^[1]

Morphology

A reduplicating strong verb of class VII.^[1][8][9] Ringe gives the principal parts *lētaną, *lelōt, *leltun, *lētanaz, from a pre-Germanic perfect *le-lóh₁d- ~ *le-lh₁d-; since the o-grade was limited to the past indicative singular and the other past forms had the zero grade, the reduplication survived as the only clear mark of the past.^[1][10] The direct evidence for this is the Anglian Old English past leort.^[1] Mailhammer puts it among the strong verbs with an accepted Indo-European etymology.^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (letan) in Gothic, Old Norse láta in Old Norse, and Old English lǣtan, Old Frisian lēta, Old Saxon lātan and Old High German lāzan in West Germanic.^[5] Gothic keeps the reduplicated past Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍉𐍄 (lailot).^[6][7] Looijenga reads ⟨aiþalataz⟩ on the Nydam I axe-handle, about 300–350 AD, perhaps "oath-sayer", with a second part ⟨-lātaz⟩ that she connects with this verb and with the Old Norse sense "say, declare".^[11] Outside Germanic, Kroonen compares Ancient Greek ληδεῖν (lēdeîn, “to be tired”), Albanian lodh (“to tire”) and Latin lassus (“tired, weary”).^[5]

Competing analyses

LIV doubts the Greek gloss because of a variant reading, and notes Rasmussen's *leh₁i̯d- with Lithuanian léisti (“to let”).^[7] Orel lists Brugmann's link with that verb and with an IE *lē(i)- "to leave" among older views.^[3] Lehmann takes the root as an extension of a PIE *léy- "slacken".^[12]

Meanings

1. to let, to allow^[5][2]
2. to leave alone, to leave behind^[4][2]

Old Norse also used the verb for "to grant", "to utter" and "to give up, lose, die",^[6] and Old Frisian for "to omit", "to remit" and "to lose".^[13]

Derivatives

• *lētaz "freedman, bondsman";^[2] Orel *lētaz, behind Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍄𐍃 (fralets).^[14]
• *lētan "indulgence; loss", a neuter noun, in Orel.^[15]
• *fralētaną "to leave, dismiss".^[2]
• *lata- "lax, sluggish", the zero-grade adjective, in Kroonen.^[16]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐍄𐌰𐌽 (letan, “to let”)^[17]
• Old Norse: láta (“to let”)^[18]
• Old English: lǣtan (“to let, to leave”)^[19]
• Old Frisian: lēta (“to let, to leave, to give up”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: lātan (“to let, to leave, to allow”)^[20]
• Old High German: lāzan (“to let”)^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 215
2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *lētaną
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *lētanan
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *lētan
5. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 332
6. ^ a b c Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. LÆT-A-
7. ^ a b c Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *leh₁d-
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. 225
9. ^ 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. lâzan
10. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 278
11. ^ Looijenga, Tineke (2003), Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 156
12. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. *lats
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. lēta
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *lētaz
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *lētan
16. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 328
17. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 198
18. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 346
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lǣtan
20. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lātan