*kerban

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *kerban "to carve, to cut" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kerbaną (“to cut”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *kerban-, Orel as *kerƀanan and Köbler as *kerban.^[3][4][5] In Old English, the present *kerban and the past third singular *karb became *keorban, *kearb and then ċeorfan, ċearf.^[1]

Morphology

A strong verb of class III,^[6][7] with the past third singular *karb.^[1] The Old Frisian verb is also inflected weak.^[8]

Evidence

In the early records the verb is found only in Old English ċeorfan and Old Frisian kerva:^[1][9] Seebold finds it unrecorded in Old Saxon and Old High German, and the continental forms appear only in Middle Low German and Middle Dutch kerven and, very rarely, in Middle High German kerben.^[9] Wiktionary, by contrast, lists an Old Saxon and an Old High German verb.^[2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes the verb for a strong verb to a European root, and the Old Irish verb for "to hack" for a Germanic loanword.^[3] Boutkan and Siebinga report Seebold's doubt that it has an Indo-European etymology at all, and find more attractive Kuhn's direct comparison with the Old Irish verb, as a substrate word whose initial *k- was no longer shifted to *h- in Germanic.^[10]

Meanings

1. to carve, to cut^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to cut off, to slay",^[3] and Old Frisian for "to cut through, to smash".^[8]

Derivatives

• *kurbi "incision, notch", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[11] Orel derives Proto-Germanic *kurƀiz from the verb, with Old English cyrf (“cutting off”) and Old Frisian kerf (“cut”).^[12]

Reflexes

• Old English: ċeorfan (“to notch, to cut, to strike down, to tear”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: kerva (“to cut through, to smash”)^[8]

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. 205
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *kerban
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 285
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 213
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *kerban
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ceorfan
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. kerva
8. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. kerva
9. ^ a b Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. s.v. kerb-a-
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. kerva
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *kurbi
12. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 225