*lātan

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *lētaną (“to let go, to allow”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *lētan- and Orel as *lētanan.^[4][5] The stressed *ē of Proto-Germanic became *ā in Proto-Northwest Germanic, giving *lātaną.^[3] In Old English the *ā appears as ǣ in West Saxon lǣtan and as ē in Mercian and Kentish lētan and Northumbrian has lēta, like Old Frisian lēta.^[6]

Morphology

A reduplicating strong verb of class VII.^[7][8] Ringe and Taylor give its Proto-West Germanic paradigm: infinitive *lātan, inflected infinitive *lātannjē, present participle *lātandī, present indicative *lātu, *lātizi, *lātidi, plural *lātum, *lātid, *lātand, present subjunctive *lātē, imperative *lāt, *lātid; the past indicative *lelōt, *leltī, *lelōt, plural *leltum, *leltud, *leltun, past subjunctive *leltī and past participle *lātan.^[9] The zero-grade past stem *lelt- was inherited from Proto-Germanic, and it survives in the Anglian Old English past leort.^[1]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English lǣtan, Old Frisian lēta, Old Saxon lātan and Old High German lāzan.^[6] Old Frisian also has lāta, with the same vowel as Middle Dutch laten.^[10] Old Dutch has the verb in Williram's commentary of 1100 and in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible of 1151–1200.^[11] Köbler lists for Old Saxon a runic inscription on a bone from Brake, one of the Weser runes, dated to the second quarter of the 5th century, but notes that its authenticity is disputed.^[12]

Competing analyses

The Proto-Germanic past was *lelōt.^[13] Ringe and Taylor allow that the verb may have been remodelled to a past *lelēt before stressed *ē became *ā, which would then account for the later past *lēt; the remodelling must have happened before Proto-Northwest Germanic, since after that change there was no source for *ē in the past.^[13]

Meanings

1. to let go, to allow^[1][2]
2. to leave alone^[2]

Old English also used the verb for "to leave behind", "to let out for hire" and "to consider",^[14] Old Frisian for "to give up", "to release" and "to bequeath",^[15] and Old Saxon for "to leave", "to omit" and "to permit".^[12]

Derivatives

• Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Germanic *fralētaną (“to leave, to dismiss”);^[16] Köbler lists the prefixed verb as Old English forlǣtan, Old Dutch farlātan, Old Saxon farlātan and in Old High German.^[17]

Reflexes

• Old English: lǣtan (“to let, to leave, to leave behind, to allow”)^[14]
• Old Frisian: lēta (“to let, to omit, to give up, to leave”)^[15]
• Old Saxon: lātan (“to let”)^[18]
• Old Dutch: lātan (“to let”)^[11]
• Old High German: lāzan (“to let”)^[19]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 92
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *lātan
3. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 11
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 332
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 244
6. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 149
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lēta 1
8. ^ Bremmer, Rolf H., Jr. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 203
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 107
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. leta
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. lātan
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lātan
13. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 90
14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lǣtan, lētan
15. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. lēta
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fralētaną
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *farlētan, *farlǣtan
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 242
19. ^ 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. lâzan