*ga-

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the prefix *ga- for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *ga- (“co-, together”),^[1][2] and EWA explains the voiced initial of the Proto-Germanic prefix by its weak stress as the unstressed first part of verbal compounds.^[3] Because it was always unstressed, it was not diphthongized after the palatal in West Saxon; in pre-Old English it became *gæ- and then *ġi-, the form usually spelled in the earliest Old English documents, and later Old English ġe-.^[1][4] Ringe and Taylor allow that the raising to *ġi- may have been a regular sound change, or that the prefix was influenced by bi-, the only other one-syllable prefix ending in a short vowel.^[4]

Evidence

The prefix is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English ġe-, Old Frisian e-, Old Saxon gi- and Old High German gi-.^[1] The Ingvaeonic languages show palatalisation before the fronted vowel, and further weakening gave a vowel i, according to Boutkan and Siebinga.^[5] De Vaan lists the loss of the palatal in pretonic *jæ- in this prefix among the sound changes of Old Frisian.^[6] EWA also cites a runic ⟨ga-⟩ and a Lombard ⟨ga-⟩.^[3]

Meanings

1. co-^[1]
2. a perfectivizing prefix^[1]

Derivatives

• Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *gastīgan "to climb into or onto" and *gadursti "boldness, daring" with the prefix.^[4]
• *galīk "similar".^[7]

Reflexes

• Old English: ġe-^[8]
• Old Frisian: e-, ge-^[5]
• Old Saxon: gi-^[9]
• Old Dutch: gi-^[10]
• Old High German: gi-^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 206
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *ga-
3. ^ a b c 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. gi-
4. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 335
5. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. e- 2
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 94
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 129
8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ge-
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gi
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gi-