*handu

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *handu "hand" for Proto-West Germanic, and Wiktionary has the same form.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *handuz (“hand”), nominative *handuz, accusative *handų,^[1] which Kroonen cites by its stem *handu- and EWA as *χandu-.^[3][4] In the northern dialects the stressed *a before the nasal was nasalized, *hąndu, which gave Old English hand beside hond and Old Frisian hond.^[5]

Morphology

A feminine u-stem.^[3][6] After the heavy root syllable the stem vowel was lost, so that Old English has hand, as do Old Frisian and Old Saxon.^[1] Findell gives the same development for Old Saxon and Old High German, where final -u was usually deleted after a long syllable.^[7] In Old High German only the dative plural hantum keeps traces of the u-declension; the other forms follow the i-declension.^[4]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English hand, Old Frisian hand, Old Saxon hand and Old High German hant.^[1] Boutkan and Siebinga explain the variation of the Old Frisian spellings by the merger of *a and *o before n.^[8] Old Dutch has hant in the Psalms of 901–1000,^[9] and the compound Old Dutch hantreip is recorded in the Lex Salica, of 507–768, in forms such as ⟨andreppus⟩ and ⟨handreiphus⟩.^[10] Lombard has Lombardic andegauuerc (“hand tool”), with the loss of the initial h-.^[4] Looijenga reads ⟨weladu⟩ on the Schweindorf inscription as the name ⟨Wēla(n)du⟩, a compound whose second part continues Germanic *handuz.^[11]

Meanings

1. hand^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "side", "power" and "possession",^[12] Old Frisian for "oath-helper", "heir" and "person",^[13] and Old High German for "power", "protection" and "army".^[4]

Derivatives

• *handulōn "to handle", which Ringe and Taylor derive from Proto-Northwest Germanic *handulōną: Old English handlian, Old High German hantolōn.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: hand (“hand, side, power, possession”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: hond (“hand, oath-helper, heir, person”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: hand (“hand, control, side”)^[15]
• Old Dutch: hant (“hand”)^[9]
• Old High German: hant (“hand, possession, power, protection”)^[4]

References

1. ^ 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. 287
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *handu
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 207
4. ^ a b c d e 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. hant
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 144
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hand
7. ^ Findell, Martin (2012), Phonological Evidence from the Continental Runic Inscriptions, Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 79, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
8. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. hond
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. hant
10. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. hantreip
11. ^ Looijenga, Tineke (2003), Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. Schweindorf
12. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hand
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hond
14. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 131
15. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. hand