*hār

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *hār "hair".^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *hēra-, Köbler as *hēra-, *hǣra- and EWA as *χēra-.^[2][4][3] Ringe and Taylor date the change of Proto-Germanic *ē to *ā throughout Northwest Germanic from the second half of the 2nd century AD.^[5] In Old English and Old Frisian this vowel is mostly a front vowel; on the majority view, which Ringe and Taylor accept, the non-nasalized low vowels were later fronted in northern West Germanic, *ā becoming *ǣ in West Saxon but *ē in the other Old English dialects.^[6] Old English has the word as hǣr beside hēr.^[7]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[3][7] In Old High German the plural is sometimes formed with the ending of the Proto-Germanic *-iz-, *-az- stems, taken as a plural marker: harir.^[3]

Evidence

The word is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English hǣr, Old Frisian hēr, Old Saxon hār, Old Dutch hār and Old High German hār.^[2][3] Old High German has it from the 8th century,^[3] Old Saxon in the Heliand and in a gloss on Latin saeta,^[8] and Old Dutch in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[9]

Competing analyses

Old English hǣr and Old Frisian hēr show the front vowel that these two languages have for Proto-Germanic *ē in most environments, against the back vowel of Old Saxon and Old High German hār.^[5] Some scholars, among them Bennett and Grønvik, have held that Proto-Germanic *ē never became *ā in the dialects ancestral to Old English and Old Frisian, so that the change cannot be of Proto-Northwest Germanic date;^[5] Ringe and Taylor think this never seemed likely.^[5] They find it much more economical to posit *ē > *ā throughout Northwest Germanic and a later fronting in northern West Germanic.^[10] Against Grønvik's argument from early records with ē, they add that the change must have spread through a differentiated dialect continuum, so that some Germanic tribes in the later West Germanic area may never have undergone it.^[10]

Meanings

1. hair^[1][2]

Old Frisian also used the word collectively for "the hair",^[11] and Old High German also for "bristle", "mane" and "fur".^[12]

Derivatives

• *hāring "herring", which Wiktionary reconstructs and takes as possibly formed from *hār;^[13] Kroonen states that the word for "hair" was the basis of Old English hǣring, Old Frisian hēring and Old High German hāring, a fish named after its many thin, hair-like bones.^[2]
• *hārijā "haircloth", which Wiktionary reconstructs from Proto-Germanic *hērijǭ;^[14] Köbler puts Old English hǣre (“haircloth, sackcloth”) and Old Saxon hāria (“fur garment”) with the word for "hair".^[15][16]

Reflexes

• Old English: hǣr (“hair”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: hēr (“hair”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: hār (“hair”)^[17]
• Old Dutch: hār (“hair”)^[9]
• Old High German: hār (“hair, bristle, mane”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hār
2. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 220
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. hâr
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *hēra-
5. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 12
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 12–13
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hǣr
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hār
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. hār
10. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 13
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hēr
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hār
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hāring
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hārijā
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hǣre
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hāria
17. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 182