*singwan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *singwan for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *singwaną (“to sing”),^[1][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *singwan-, Orel as *senʒwanan and Köbler as *sengwan, *singwan.^[3][4][5] Ringe and Taylor list it among the words in which *w stood after a velar: this *w was lost in most of the West Germanic languages, as in Old English singan, Old Saxon singan and Old High German singan, while in Old Frisian its rounding passed to the *i of the preceding syllable, which gave Old Frisian siunga.^[6]

Morphology

A strong verb of class III.^[7][8] Old High German has the past sang, plural sungun, and the past participle gisungan.^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English singan, Old Frisian siunga, Old Saxon singan and Old High German singan,^[1] and Old Dutch singan, recorded in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century.^[9] Old High German has it from the Abrogans and other glosses onwards.^[8]

Competing analyses

Stiles counts the Old Frisian rounding before *w among the Frisian changes that have no counterpart in Old English; he compares the parallel East Norse change, as in Old Swedish siunga, and takes it for quite a late change in Frisian.^[10] Ringe and Taylor find the survival of the rounding in Frisian in these environments so consistent that they treat a Frisian form without it as a loanword.^[1] Versloot notes that the contexts of this Old Frisian change overlap with those of breaking in Old English.^[11]

Meanings

1. to sing^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to crow", "to read, to tell" and "to sound, to ring",^[12] Old Frisian for singing a Mass,^[13] and Old High German also for "to praise", "to proclaim", "to recite" and "to play" an instrument.^[8]

Derivatives

• *bisingwan "to sing about", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[14] the prefixed verb is attested as Old English besingan, Old Frisian bisiunga and Old High German bisingan.^[15][16][17]
• *sangu "singing, song", which Wiktionary reconstructs from Proto-Germanic *sangwaz;^[18] Kroonen takes the Proto-Germanic noun for an o-grade noun derived from the verb.^[19]

Reflexes

• Old English: singan (“to sing, to crow, to read, to tell, to sound”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: siunga (“to sing”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: singan (“to sing”)^[20]
• Old Dutch: singan (“to sing”)^[9]
• Old High German: singan (“to sing, to praise, to proclaim, to recite, to sound”)^[8]

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. 215
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *singwan
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 436
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 324
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sengwan
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 214–215
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. singan
8. ^ 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. singan
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. singan
10. ^ Stiles, Patrick V. (1995), Remarks on the 'Anglo-Frisian' thesis, in: Volkert F. Faltings, Alastair G. H. Walker, Ommo Wilts (eds), Friesische Studien II, NOWELE Supplement 12, Odense: Odense University Press, 177–220, p. §8.7
11. ^ Versloot, Arjen P. (2017), Proto-Germanic ai in North and West Germanic, Folia Linguistica Historica 38, 281–324
12. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. singan
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. siunga
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bisingwan
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. besingan
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bisiunga
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bisingan
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sangu
19. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 426
20. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. singan