*sattjan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *sattjan for Proto-West Germanic, phonetically *[sattjan] for an underlying */satjan/,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *satjaną (“to seat, to set”),^[1][3] which Kroonen cites as *satjan- and Orel as *satjanan.^[3][4] Both take it for the causative of the verb for "to sit".^[3][4] The double *t is the West Germanic gemination of a consonant before *j, which Ringe and Taylor describe as at first a superficial rule of phonetic implementation that may have stayed so for some generations.^[1] *sattjan is one of their typical examples, beside *sittjan "to sit".^[1]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[5][6] In Ringe and Taylor's Proto-West Germanic paradigms it was inflected like *laggjan "to lay", except that the *-i- was missing throughout the past, which was therefore *sattā and so on, with the past participle *satt.^[7] The past third singular *sattē comes from Proto-Germanic *satidē by an early syncope of *-i- between coronal stops, which the relic forms Northumbrian Old English ġe-sætte and Old Saxon satta show to be Proto-West Germanic; the umlaut of the present was later levelled into Old English sette and Old Saxon gi-setta, and Old High German has sazta.^[8] The first singular *sattā likewise continues Proto-Germanic *satidǭ, recorded in the early runic ⟨satido⟩.^[9]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English settan, Old Frisian setta, Old Saxon settian and Old High German sezzen.^[1] Old Dutch has it as setten in psalms of the 9th century, with the past satta.^[10] In High German the geminate became an affricate: Findell gives *sattjan- with Upper German setzen against Old Saxon settian as an example of this shift.^[11]

Meanings

1. to set, to seat^[1][2]
2. to place^[2]

Old English also used the verb for "to found", "to plant" and "to fix",^[12] Old Frisian for "to appoint", "to fix", "to assess" and "to pledge",^[13] and Old Saxon also for "to compose".^[14]

Derivatives

• *ubarsattjan "to set over, to place above; to establish", which Wiktionary reconstructs as the causative of *ubarsittjan;^[15] Old English has ofersettan, glossing Latin superpōnō.^[16]
• Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Germanic *bisatjaną (“to occupy, to fill”);^[17] Köbler lists Old English besettan with its Old Frisian and Old High German counterparts.^[18]

Reflexes

• Old English: settan (“to set, to lay, to place, to found, to plant”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: setta (“to set, to place, to appoint, to fix”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: settian (“to put, to set, to place, to sit down”)^[14]
• Old Dutch: setten (“to set, to place”)^[19][10]
• Old High German: sezzen (“to set, to place, to lay, to plant”)^[6]

References

1. ^ 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. 51
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sattjan
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 427
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 319
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sėttian
6. ^ a b 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. sezzen
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 109
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 72
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 152
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. setten
11. ^ Findell, Martin (2012), Phonological Evidence from the Continental Runic Inscriptions, Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 79, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
12. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. settan
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. setta
14. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. settian
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ubarsattjan
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ofersėttan
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bisatjaną
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. besėttan
19. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. setten