*twai-

Reconstruction

Wiktionary gives the numeral "two" under the stem *twai-,^[1] while Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the forms of its paradigm, with the neuter nominative-accusative *twai.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *twai (“two”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *twa- and Köbler as *twai, *twa.^[3][4] The Proto-Germanic genitive *twajjō "of two" became Proto-West Germanic *twaijō, continued by Old Saxon tweio and Old High German zweio.^[5] The dative-instrumental *twaimi kept its final *-i, the only clear trace of the old instrumental plural ending *-mi, as the i-umlaut of Old English twǣm shows.^[6]

Morphology

A cardinal numeral.^[7][8] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the genitive *twaijō, the dative-instrumental *twaimi and the neuter nominative-accusative *twai, the source of Old English twā, Old Frisian twā, Old Saxon twē and Old High German zwei, a continuation of an Indo-European dual; the Old English neuter tū, with a plural ending, is an innovation.^[2][9] Following Cowgill, they take Old High German zwā and probably the other West Germanic feminines such as twā to continue an old endingless form *twa; how it came to be feminine cannot be recovered.^[10]

One of the most idiosyncratic West Germanic innovations was a masculine nominative-accusative with endings in n, which probably arose only once, though the attested forms are not exact cognates.^[11] Old Frisian and Old Saxon twēne go back to *twainē, and Old High German zwēne perhaps does too, although its stressed diphthong did not develop regularly.^[11] Old English twēġen, whose long vowel is guaranteed by about fifteen examples in verse, may go back to *twō-jVn-, as Ross and Berns propose, while the early Middle English form in the Ormulum points to *twaj(j)Vn-.^[11]

Evidence

The numeral is attested in all the West Germanic languages, with the masculine in -n everywhere: Old English twēġen, Old Frisian twēne, Old Saxon twēne, Old Dutch tuene and Old High German zwēne.^{[12][13][8][14][15]} The Old Dutch form is found in the Old Low Franconian psalms.^[14][16] De Vaan derives Old Frisian twēne from *twai-, while the Old Frisian feminine and neuter twā may continue either *twō- or *twai-.^[17] Findell points out that the diphthong of Old High German zuuei, from *twai, cannot come from a geminate.^[18]

Competing analyses

Because the attested masculine forms are not perfectly cognate, a Proto-West Germanic masculine is difficult to reconstruct.^[11] Seebold proposed a solution for the whole group that needs several otherwise unsupported sound changes, and Ringe and Taylor find his attempt to explain away the metrical length of the Old English vowel unconvincing.^[11] Bammesberger points out that the forms in n are almost certainly derivatives of "two" drawn into its paradigm.^[11] Fulk finds that Ross and Berns's derivation of twēġen from *twai inae requires unlikely sound changes, and reports Prokosch's view that the ē of Old Saxon and Old High German arose from a diphthong in final position while the word was still felt as a compound, and Krahe and Meid's, who reconstruct for twēne and zwēne an archaic distributive numeral with an Indo-European suffix, comparable to Latin bīnī (“two each”).^[19]

Meanings

1. two^[2][1]

Derivatives

• *twalif "twelve", which Wiktionary traces to Proto-Germanic *twalif, by surface analysis *twai- and *-lif "left over";^[20] Boutkan and Siebinga list the reflexes of *twai-lif-, among them Old English twelf, Old Saxon twelif, Old High German zwelif and Old Frisian twelf.^[21]
• *twaijōn "to divide in two; to quarrel", which Wiktionary forms from *twai- and *-ōn behind Middle Low German tweien.^[22]

Reflexes

• Old English: twēġen (“two (masculine)”), twā (“two (feminine)”), tū (“two (neuter)”)^[12][7][23]
• Old Frisian: twēne (“two (masculine)”), twā (“two (mostly feminine and neuter)”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: twēne (“two (masculine)”), twā (“two (feminine)”), twē (“two (neuter)”)^[8]
• Old Dutch: tuene (“two”)^[14]
• Old High German: zwēne (“two (masculine)”), zwā (“two (feminine)”), zwei (“two (neuter)”)^[15][3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *twai-
2. ^ 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. 120
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 529
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *twai, *twa
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 66
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 58
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. twā
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. twêne
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 388
10. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 120–121
11. ^ 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. 80
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. twēgen
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. twēne
14. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. twē
15. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. zwēne
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. twēne
17. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2011), West-Germanic *ai in Frisian, Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 67, 301–314
18. ^ Findell, Martin (2012), Phonological Evidence from the Continental Runic Inscriptions, Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 79, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
19. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *twalif
21. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. atwa
22. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *twaijōn
23. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tū