*mōtaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *mōtaną in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] cited by its stem *mōtan- in Kroonen^[3] and as *mōtan in Köbler.^[4] Orel heads the verb by its third person singular, *mōta.^[5]

Etymology

Kroonen takes it as a preterite-present probably built on a root from Proto-Indo-European *mod- (“to approach”), the root of Old Armenian մատչիմ (matčʻim, “to approach, come close”).^[3][6]

Morphology

A preterite-present verb.^[3][4] Ringe counts it among the few preterite-presents that had no ablaut in the proto-language, with the principal parts *mōtaną, *mōt, *mōsē.^[1] Köbler also lists the present stem *mōt- "he may" and the compound *gamet- "he has room, he can", after Seebold.^[7][8]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Gothic and West Germanic: Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍄𐌰𐌽 (gamōtan), only with the prefix, and Old English mōtan, Old Frisian mōta, Old Saxon mōtan and Old High German muozan.^[3][1] None of the sources lists an Old Norse form of the verb.^[5][3] Old Norse has only the related noun Old Norse mót (“meeting”) and the weak verb Old Norse mœta (“to meet”).^[5][3] The Gothic verb is recorded in Wulfila's Bible three times, as the present Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍄 (gamōt) at John 8:37 and the preterite plural Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍃𐍄𐌴𐌳𐌿𐌽 (gamōstēdun) at Mark 2:2.^[9]

Competing analyses

Wiktionary derives it from a secondary perfect *me-mṓd-e "has measured, has taken care of" to *mḗd-e-ti "to measure, take care of", or else from the root of *mōtą "meeting".^[2] Orel also derives it from the verb "to measure", *metanan,^[5] and Köbler points to the PIE root *med- "to measure".^[10] Feist, by contrast, thought the Germanic root *mōt- had meant "to move freely" and had no known etymology, and doubted the link with the root "to measure"; he records Meillet's comparison with Armenian, which Pedersen rejected.^[11]

Meanings

1. to be allowed, to be permitted to, may^[2][4]
2. to approach, to concede to; a gloss Kroonen marks with a query^[3]

Köbler glosses the Proto-Germanic verb "to have room, to be able, to be allowed".^[12] Gothic used it for "to find room, to be permitted",^[11][9] while in the West Germanic languages it also came to mean "to have to": Old English "may, can, must", Old Frisian "to be allowed, to be able, to have to".^[10][3]

Derivatives

• *mōtjan- "to meet", a jan-verb closely related to the preterite-present, in Kroonen;^[3] Orel writes it *mōtjanan and derives it from the noun *mōtan "meeting".^[5]
• *maþlą "assembly, speech", an instrumental noun in *-tlo- from the zero-grade stem of the verb according to Kroonen;^[13] Wiktionary gives this derivation as uncertain.^[14]
• *mōtō- "leisure, opportunity", in Köbler.^[15]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌼𐍉𐍄𐌰𐌽 (gamōtan, “to find room”)^[11]
• Old English: mōtan (“may, can, must”)^[16]
• Old Frisian: mōta (“to be allowed, ought, can, must”)^[17]
• Old Saxon: mōtan (“to be allowed, to be able”)^[12]
• Old High German: muozan (“to be able or allowed to do, to have to”)^[18]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 292
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōtaną
3. ^ 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. 372
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōtan
5. ^ a b c d e Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 274
6. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōtą
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōt-
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *gamet-
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gamōtan
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōtan
11. ^ a b c Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. ga-motan
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōtan
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 358
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *maþlą
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōtō-
16. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōtan
17. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōta
18. ^ 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. muozan