*stān

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *stān "to stand" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *stāną (“to stand”),^[1][2] a present stem that Ringe writes *stā- ~ *stai-, Kroonen *stēn-, Orel *stēnan and Köbler *stēn, *stǣn.^[2][3][4][5] Ringe reconstructs two Proto-Germanic presents meaning "stand": the strong *standi/a- and the anomalous j-present *stai- ~ *stā-, from *sta-ji- ~ *sta-ja- with loss of the intervocalic *j; only one past, the strong *stōþ- ~ *stōd-, can be reconstructed.^[6] Kroonen notes that the verb is not attested in the oldest Germanic languages, but takes its presence in both North and West Germanic as a sign that it already existed in Proto-Germanic.^[3]

Morphology

An athematic verb, inflected like the verb "go"; the forms it lacks, among them the past, are supplied by *standan.^[7][8] Ringe finds the old alternation of the stems best kept in Old Saxon, with the infinitive stān and the plural ⟨stād⟩, but second and third singular ⟨stēs⟩, ⟨stēð⟩ (beside ⟨stād⟩) with ē from *ai; in the Old High German dialects the alternation was levelled and the verb inflected athematically, probably under the influence of "do".^[9]

Evidence

Fulk finds the verb best attested in Old High German, with the infinitive Old High German stān beside stēn, and less often in Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Low Franconian and Old East Norse.^[10] Old English has no such verb: of the two athematic verbs only "go" survives there.^[9] Old Frisian has the third singular ⟨stēt⟩, plural ⟨stāt⟩ and past participle ⟨stēn⟩.^[10] Old Saxon has it in the Heliand and the Genesis.^[11] Old Dutch has the compound upstān (“to arise”), with the imperative ⟨upsta⟩, in psalms that Köbler dates to the 9th century.^[12] EWA records the Old High German verb from the 8th century, in the Abrogans and other glosses.^[8]

Competing analyses

Ringe follows Þórhallsdóttir in taking "stand" and "go" for contracted presents in *-ji- ~ *-ja-, which gave Proto-Germanic *stai- ~ *stā-.^[9] Kroonen finds the original form hard to reconstruct: many forms point to a root present *stēn-, which would require a Narten present without parallels outside Germanic, while an i-present *staja- might explain Middle High German stēt but not Northwest Germanic *stā-; he agrees with Seebold, who starts from *stēn- formed after *gēn- "to go".^[3] Fulk assumes that the verb developed exactly like "go", for which he derives the Old High German stems gā- and gē- from a short root vowel, the first arising in forms like the infinitive, the second in forms like the third singular, with umlaut and contraction.^[13]

Meanings

1. to stand^[1][14]

Old Saxon also used the verb for "to place oneself, to exist",^[15] Old Frisian for "to be situated, to last, to remain",^[16] and Old High German for "to be present, to remain, to rest on, to begin".^[8]

Derivatives

• *frastān "to understand", which Wiktionary reconstructs from Old Frisian forstān and its later descendants;^[17] Köbler lists the prefixed verb in Old Frisian.^[16]
• Old Saxon has compounds such as Old Saxon āstān (“to originate”), Old Saxon afstān (“to stop, to remain standing”) and Old Saxon gistān (“to stand fast”).^[18]

Reflexes

• Old Frisian: stān (“to stand, to be situated, to last, to remain”)^[16]
• Old Saxon: stān (“to stand, to place oneself, to exist”)^[15]
• Old Dutch: stān (“to stand”)^[19]
• Old High German: stān (“to stand, to be, to remain, to exist”), also stēn^[8][20]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stān
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 159
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 477
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 377
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *stēn
6. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 218
7. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 336–337
8. ^ a b c d 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. stân
9. ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 295
10. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 337
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stān
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. upstān
13. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 335–337
14. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 336
15. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. stān
16. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stān
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *frastān
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 376
19. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. stān
20. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stān