*ābanþ

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *ābanþ for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] while Ringe and Taylor give the West Germanic form as *āban- "evening".^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ēbanþs (“evening”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites as *ēbanþ- ~ *ēbund-, Orel as *aftanþaz and Köbler as *ēbanda-.^[4][5][6] EWA traces Old High German āband to a base with a dental from Proto-Germanic *-þ-, and the Low German, Dutch and Frisian forms to one with grammatical change.^[7]

Morphology

Ringe and Taylor note that the Old English word was extended with *-j- and is usually neuter, while the other West Germanic words were extended with *-d- and are masculine.^[2] EWA describes Old English ǣfen as a ja-stem with West Germanic gemination of the n in forms such as the dative ǣfenne, and Old High German āband as a masculine a-stem.^[7] Berr attributes the d of Old Saxon aband to grammatical change.^[8]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English ǣfen, Old Frisian ēvend, Old Saxon āvand and Old High German āband,^[2] and in Old Dutch as āvont in the psalms of the 10th century.^[9] Anglian Old English also has æften with a short vowel and the cluster ft, which has been put down to a shared Anglian and North Germanic inheritance, to Scandinavian influence or to the influence of æftan (“after”).^[7] EWA notes that Gothic has no related word.^[7]

Competing analyses

Ringe and Taylor list *āban- among the lexemes unique to West Germanic.^[2] Kroonen, Orel and Köbler instead set up a Proto-Germanic word that includes Old Norse aptann.^[4][5][6] Kroonen calls the word etymologically and derivationally problematic, with a difficult alternation between Nordic *aft- and West Germanic *ēb-, which he explains from a single mobile consonant stem following Hamp.^[4] EWA finds that the North Germanic forms point to a Proto-Germanic *aften-, *aftin- with a short vowel, a dental after the f and no final dental, and reviews the attempts to trace both to one older form.^[7] Orel derives the word from *aftanē with taboo changes.^[5]

Meanings

1. evening^[2][1]

Old Frisian also used the word for the day before a church feast,^[10] and Old High German for the eve of a feast and for "west".^[7]

Derivatives

• *ābanþēn "to become evening", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[11] EWA cites Old English ǣfnian (“to grow toward evening”).^[7]

Reflexes

• Old English: ǣfen (“evening, eve”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: ēvend (“evening, eve of a church feast”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: āvand (“evening”)^[13]
• Old Dutch: āvont (“evening”)^[9]
• Old High German: āband (“evening, eve, west”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ābanþ
2. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 126
3. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ēbanþs
4. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 113
5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 2
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *ēbanda-
7. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. âband
8. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 19
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. āvont
10. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ēvend
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ābanþēn
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ǣfen
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. āvand