*raikijan

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *raikijaną (“to stretch out, to reach”), as Wiktionary reconstructs it;^[3] Orel writes *raikjanan and Köbler *raikjan, *reikjan.^[4][5] Ringe and Taylor trace it through *raikjan, with syncope of *-ij-, to the attested verbs.^[2] In pre-Old English it became *rāċjąn, with palatalization of *k before *j, and then, with i-umlaut of the *ā that came from *ai, Old English rǣċan.^[6][7]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[8][9] Old Frisian has rēka beside rētsa, whose spellings show the palatalization and assibilation of k.^[10][2]

Evidence

Ringe and Taylor list the verb among the lexemes unique to West Germanic, continued by Old English, Old Frisian and Old High German reihhen.^[1] Boutkan and Siebinga mark the Proto-Germanic form as Proto-West Germanic, and EWA reconstructs a West Germanic *rai̯kii̯e/a-.^[10][9] EWA records the Old High German verb from a Bavarian manuscript of the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century.^[9] Old Dutch has only the imperative rek in the Groningen psalm glosses of 1151–1175,^[11] whose monophthong EWA takes for possibly Frisian.^[9] Wiktionary gives the Old Saxon form only as a reconstruction, *rēkian.^[3]

Competing analyses

Ringe and Taylor, Boutkan and Siebinga, and EWA treat the verb as a West Germanic word,^[1][10][9] while Wiktionary, Orel and Köbler set up a Proto-Germanic form.^[12][4][5] EWA mentions that Old Norse reik (“parting of the hair”) is regularly compared, but leaves the connection open because of the meaning.^[9] It also leaves open whether some Old Frisian forms of rēka continue Proto-Germanic *rakjan "to stretch" instead.^[9]

Meanings

1. to reach^[1][3]

Old English also used the verb for "to stretch out, to offer, to give",^[8] Old Frisian for "to give, to hand over, to pay",^[13] and Old High German for "to extend, to seize".^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: rǣċan (“to stretch out, to reach, to offer, to give”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: rēka (“to give, to hand over, to pay, to reach”)^[13]
• Old Dutch: reiken (“to hand”)^[11]
• Old High German: reihhen (“to reach, to hand, to extend, to seize”)^[14]

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. 127
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 157
3. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *raikijan
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 295
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *raikjan
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 209
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 234
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. rǣcan
9. ^ a b c d e f g 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. reichen
10. ^ a b c Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. reka
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. reiken
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *raikijaną
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. rēka
14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. reihhen