*laggjan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *laggjan for Proto-West Germanic, phonetically *[laggjan] and underlyingly */lagjan/,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *lagjaną (“to lay”),^[1][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *lagjan- and Orel as *laʒjanan.^[3][4] The geminate is due to the Proto-West Germanic gemination of consonants before *j;^[5] EWA too finds the expected West Germanic gemination in the Old High German verb.^[6] The later history of *[ggj] shows that it was a stop, though *g between vowels remained a fricative.^[7] In Old English the *ggj inherited from West Germanic stayed palatal, giving Old English leċġan.^[8]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[6][9] EWA takes the Proto-Germanic verb for a causative of the strong verb "to lie",^[6] whose Proto-West Germanic form Ringe and Taylor give as *liggjan.^[1] Their Proto-West Germanic paradigm has the present participle *laggjandī, the present indicative *laggju, *lagisi, *lagiþi, plural *laggjum, *lagiþ, *laggjanþ, the present subjunctive *laggjē, *laggjēs, and the imperative *lagi, plural *lagiþ.^[10] The past has the connecting vowel: indicative *lagidā, *lagidēs or *-dōs, *lagidē or *-dā, plural *lagidum, *lagidud, *lagidun, subjunctive *lagidī, past participle *lagid.^[11] Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon, but not Old High German, lost the *-i- of this past by analogy with *sattjan "to set": læġdun, leiden, lagdun "they laid" go back to *lagdun, while legitun keeps Proto-West Germanic *lagidun.^[12]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English leċġan, Old Frisian ledza, Old Saxon leggian and Old High German leggen,^[1] and Old Dutch leggen, recorded in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[13] Old High German has it in the Abrogans and in a gloss of the late 8th or early 9th century.^[6]

Meanings

1. to lay, to place^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to set", "to commission" and "to bury",^[14] Old Frisian for "to fix, to appoint" and "to bury",^[15] Old Saxon for "to make",^[9] and Old High German for "to put away" and "to settle".^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: leċġan (“to lay, to set, to place, to commission, to bury”)^[14]
• Old Frisian: ledza (“to lay, to fix, to appoint, to bury”)^[15]
• Old Saxon: leggian (“to lay, to put down”)^[16]
• Old Dutch: leggen (“to lay”)^[13]
• Old High German: leggen (“to lay, to lay down, to put away, to settle”)^[6]

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. 51
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *laggjan
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 322
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 231
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 50–51
6. ^ a b c d e f 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. leggen
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 52
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 213
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. leggian
10. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 108–109
11. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 109
12. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 73
13. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. leggen
14. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. lecgan
15. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ledza
16. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. leggian