*langatīn

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *langatīn "spring".^[1] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *langitīn "spring(time)" and list it among the noteworthy words found only in West Germanic.^[2]

Etymology

Holthausen and EWA take it as formed from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”) + *tīnaz (“day”).^[3][4] Holthausen connects it with Old English lang (“long”), for the lengthening of the days, and matches its second part with that of Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌽𐍄𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (sinteins, “daily”).^[3] EWA explains it as "the time when the days grow longer", originally a compound with the Proto-Germanic word for "day" as its second part,^[4] an adjective "having long days" made into a noun; the vowel of that part was shortened early, so that its length cannot be proven, though the Gothic word suggests it.^[5] Orel's Proto-Germanic *tīnaz rests on the Gothic word alone.^[6] Wiktionary analyses the word as *lang "long" and a West Germanic word for "day".^[1]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem in Old English and in Old High German.^[7][4]

Evidence

The noun is attested as Old English lengten, also lencten and lenten,^[7] and Old High German lenzin, also lengizin, in glosses from the third quarter of the 8th century.^[8] Old Saxon and Old Dutch have it only in the month name Old Saxon lentīnmānuth (“March”):^[9][10] the Old Dutch lentinmānoth is recorded in the Holland-Utrecht names of months and winds of 1046–1100.^[11] Ringe and Taylor cite the Old High German month name lenzin-mānōd "March".^[12] Old High German also has the nouns langez or lenz, in glosses from the 10th century, and lenzo, from about 1000.^[5][13]

Competing analyses

Köbler sets up a Proto-Germanic noun *langat, *langit "lengthening, spring",^[14] as Torp had done in 1909, explaining the word as "lengthening" of the days.^[15] EWA allows, for the forms without n such as langez, a derivative *lang-at-i/a- or *lang-ati̯a-, and thinks that a derivative and a compound may have been mixed in the attested West Germanic forms.^[5]

Meanings

1. spring^[12][1]

Old English also used the word for "Lent", the season of fasting.^[3][7]

Reflexes

• Old English: lengten (“spring, Lent”)^[3]
• Old High German: lenzin (“spring”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *langatīn
2. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 126–127
3. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. lengten
4. ^ a b c 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. lengizin
5. ^ a b c 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. langez
6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 408
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lėngten
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lenzin
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lėntīnmānuth
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *lentin?
11. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. lentinmānoth
12. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 127
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lenzo
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *langat
15. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 361