*sehwaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *sehwaną in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *sexwanan in Orel^[3] and *sehwan in Köbler;^[4] Kroonen cites the stem *sehwan-,^[5] Seebold SEHW-A-.^[6]

Etymology

It is from Proto-Indo-European *sekʷ- (“to see, to notice”), from the thematic present *sekʷ-e-ti.^[2] Kroonen also starts from *sékw-e-, but of a root meaning "to follow".^[5]

Morphology

A strong verb of class V,^[7][4] with the principal parts *sehwaną, *sahw, *sēgun and the participle *sewanaz.^[1] The participle shows Verner's law: the PIE verbal adjective *sekwnós was remodelled as *sehwonós, which became *segwonós and then *sewanaz, the source of Old English sewen and Old High German gisewan.^[8] Mailhammer puts it among the strong verbs with an uncertain Indo-European etymology.^[7]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan), Old Norse sjá, Old English sēon, Old Frisian siā, Old Saxon sehan and Old High German sehan.^[5] The Old Norse form arose by contraction from an older séa.^[9][10]

Competing analyses

Kroonen identifies the verb with PIE "to follow", seen in Sanskrit, in Ancient Greek ἕπομαι (hépomai), Latin sequor and Old Irish sechid, and thinks the meaning shifted from "to follow" to "to keep an eye on".^[5] Orel relates it to the same verbs and to Hittite šakuwāi- (“to observe”), Albanian shoh (“to see”) and Lithuanian sèkti (“to follow”).^[3] Ringe gives the PIE root the meaning "to see", comparing the Albanian verb and Hittite sākuwa (“eyes”).^[8] LIV lists the Gothic verb, with a query, under 1.*sekʷ- "to join", noting that it is often put there by assuming a shift from following with the eyes to seeing.^[11] Wiktionary considers a link with *sagjaz "companion", literally "follower",^[2] which Kroonen derives from the root meaning "to follow".^[12]

Meanings

1. to see^[5][3][1][2]

Old Norse also used the verb for "to perceive, to examine, to take care",^[6] and Old English for "to understand, to visit, to experience, to suffer".^[13]

Derivatives

• *siuniz "sight, appearance, face", a ni-stem from *sehwnís through *seǥwniz;^[14][15] Kroonen writes *seuni- and notes that the form proves that Verner's law came before Kluge's law.^[16]
• *sēwiz "visible", a vṛddhi gerundive;^[17] Kroonen *sēhwi-.^[18]
• With prefixes: *gasehwaną "to see completely" and *uzsehwaną "to look out, to look up".^[19][20]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍃𐌰𐌹𐍈𐌰𐌽 (saiƕan, “to see, to look, to observe”)^[21]
• Old Norse: sjá (“to see”)^[10]
• Old English: sēon (“to see, to behold, to notice; to understand; to visit”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: siā (“to see”)^[22]
• Old Saxon: sehan (“to see”)^[23]
• Old High German: sehan (“to see, to look at”)^[24]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 273
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sehwaną
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *sexwanan
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sehwan
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. 431
6. ^ a b Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. SEHW-A-
7. ^ 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. 222
8. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 129
9. ^ Nielsen, Hans Frede (2000), The Early Runic Language of Scandinavia: Studies in Germanic Dialect Geography, Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. sjá
11. ^ Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *sekʷ-
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 420
13. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sēon
14. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 138
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *siuniz
16. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 434
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sēwiz
18. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 432
19. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gasehwaną
20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *uzsehwaną
21. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. saíƕan
22. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. siā
23. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sehan
24. ^ 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. sehan