*mari

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *mari "sea" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1][2] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *mari (“sea, lake”),^[2] for which Ringe and Taylor also write Proto-Northwest Germanic *mariz;^[1] Kroonen cites the stem *mari- and Orel *mariz.^[4][5] After a light root syllable the final *-i of the i-stems was not lost,^[6] and in Old English the vowel of the root was fronted, *mæri, and then raised, giving meri and later mere.^[7][1]

Morphology

An i-stem.^[1][8] Fulk counts Proto-Germanic *mari (or *mariz) among the few secure i-stems of neuter gender.^[9] In West Germanic the gender varies: Old Saxon meri is feminine, Old High German meri masculine or neuter, and Old English mere masculine.^[2] EWA takes the Old Saxon feminine, like Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐍂𐌴𐌹 (marei), for an extended īn-stem *mar-īn-.^[10] Kortlandt holds that marei never had a *-j- and represents the neuter *mari with the suffix *-H1n-.^[11] Versloot gives the i-stem paradigm with a nominative and accusative singular *mari and a genitive and dative singular *marī.^[12]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English mere, Old Frisian mere, Old Saxon meri, Old Dutch meri and Old High German meri.^[10] Old English has the older form ⟨meri⟩ in the Épinal Glossary and ⟨mere⟩ in the Corpus Glossary.^[2] Old Dutch has the form ⟨mero⟩ in charters from the Low Countries of 682–1096, and ⟨mere⟩ in Williram's commentary of 1100.^[13][14] Old High German has it from the third quarter of the 8th century,^[15] and Old Saxon in the Heliand.^[8] Old Frisian has mere (“sea, pool”) beside mār (“boundary, ditch”),^[16][17] which Kroonen and Orel put with the same word.^[4][5] EWA takes the Finnic word for "sea", as in Ingrian meri, Karelian meri and Estonian meri, for a loan probably from West Germanic, because a North Germanic source would not explain its umlauted vowel.^[10] Findell names *mariz "sea, lake" as a less likely etymon of the name ⟨marŋs⟩ on the Szabadbattyán buckle, preferring *mērjaz "famous".^[18]

Meanings

1. sea^[2][3]
2. lake^[3][4]

Old English used the word for "pool, lake" and in poetry for "sea",^[2] Old Frisian also for "standing water",^[16] and Old High German also, figuratively, for "the earthly world".^[10]

Derivatives

• *marisk "marsh", which Ringe and Taylor reconstruct for the northern West Germanic dialects: Old Frisian mersk, Old English mersċ, recorded in the Corpus Glossary.^[7][19]
• *mariswīn "porpoise", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[20] Old English has mereswīn (“porpoise, dolphin”) and Old Saxon meriswīn (“porpoise, dolphin”).^[21][22]
• *marik "wild celery", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[23] Kroonen derives Proto-Germanic *marikan- "wild celery", Old English merece, from *mari- because the plant prefers brackish marshes, and finds it originally Ingvaeonic.^[24]
• *mōr "moor", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[25] Kroonen takes Proto-Germanic *mōra- "marsh, moor" for a derivative of *mari- made within Germanic,^[26] and EWA for one with lengthened grade, meaning originally "belonging to the lake".^[27]

Reflexes

• Old English: mere (“sea, lake, pond, pool”)^[28]
• Old Frisian: mere (“sea, standing water, pool”)^[16]
• Old Saxon: meri (“sea, lake”)^[29]
• Old Dutch: meri (“sea, lake”)^[14]
• Old High German: meri (“sea”)^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 289
2. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 334
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mari
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 354
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 261
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 288–289
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 237
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mėri
9. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. §7.19
10. ^ a b c d e 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. meri
11. ^ Kortlandt, Frederik (2010), Germanic Phonology and Morphology, collected papers, Leiden (pdf)
12. ^ Versloot, Arjen P (2024), Reconstructing the historical phonology of Old English, English Language and Linguistics (doi 10.1017/S1360674324000674). (UvA-DARE)
13. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. meri II
14. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. meri I
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. meri
16. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mere
17. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mār
18. ^ Findell, Martin (2012), Phonological Evidence from the Continental Runic Inscriptions, Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 79, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
19. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 278
20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mariswīn
21. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mėreswīn
22. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mėriswīn*
23. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *marik
24. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 355
25. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōr
26. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 372
27. ^ 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. muor
28. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mėre
29. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 282