*dohter

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *dohter for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *duhtēr (“daughter”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *duhter- and Köbler as *duhter.^[3][4] The o of the Northwest Germanic form is due to the lowering of *u before the mid vowel of the following syllable.^[5] Ringe and Taylor call the paradigm of "daughter" perhaps the most striking example of the levelling of *o that followed: Proto-Germanic nominative *duhtēr, accusative *duhterų, dative *duhtri became *dohtēr, *dohterų, *duhtri by sound change, and then *dohtri with *o levelled into the dative, so that Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old High German have o in all forms.^[2] They reconstruct the Proto-West Germanic dative singular *dohtri, with *o from the nominative singular.^[6][7]

Morphology

A feminine consonant stem of the r-stem type.^[8][9] In Old English the dative *dohtri became *dœhtri by i-umlaut, and then, with the loss of the final vowel, Mercian and Northumbrian dœhter, West Saxon dehter.^[6][7] Old Saxon and Old High German inflect the noun both as a strong and as a weak feminine.^[10][11]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English dohtor, Old Frisian dochter, Old Saxon dohtar and Old High German tohter,^[3] and Old Dutch dohter is found in the psalms, which Köbler dates to the 9th century, and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[9][12] Köbler dates the first Old High German records, in glosses, to the last quarter of the 8th century.^[11]

Meanings

1. daughter^[2][1]

Reflexes

• Old English: dohtor (“daughter”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: dochter (“daughter”)^[14]
• Old Saxon: dohtar (“daughter”)^[15]
• Old Dutch: dohter (“daughter”)^[12]
• Old High German: tohter (“daughter”)^[11]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *dohter
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 33
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 107
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *duhter
5. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
6. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 226
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 328
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dohtor
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dohter
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dohtar
11. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tohter
12. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. dohter
13. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. dohtor
14. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. dochter
15. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 83