*handuwerk

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *handuwerk "work done by hand, craftsmanship" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Proto-West Germanic *handu (“hand”) + *werk (“work”), as Wiktionary derives it.^[1] Köbler refers Old English handweorc to the Old English words for "hand" and "work",^[2] and Old High German hantwerk to hant and werk.^[3]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem in Old English and Old High German.^[2][3]

Evidence

Of the old languages, only Old English and Old High German record the compound in the dictionaries.^[2][3] Wiktionary gives the Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old Dutch forms only as reconstructions.^[1] The Old High German word is recorded from glosses of the end of the 10th century, glossing Latin officīna and opus.^[3]

Competing analyses

Köbler marks Old High German hantwerk as a loan translation of Latin opus manuum (“work of the hands”).^[3] Wiktionary also has an entry for Proto-Germanic *handuwerką (“handwork, manual labour”), to which it adds Old Norse handaverk,^[4] while its Proto-West Germanic entry treats the word as a compound formed in West Germanic.^[1]

Meanings

1. work done by hand, craftsmanship^[1]

Old English used the word for "handiwork",^[2] and Old High German for "handiwork, work of the hands, making, fabric".^[3]

Reflexes

• Old English: handweorc (“handiwork”)^[2]
• Old High German: hantwerk (“handiwork, work of the hands”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *handuwerk
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. handweorc
3. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hantwerk
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *handuwerką