*wandarōn

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *wandarōn "to waver, to change, to fluctuate; to wander" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

Wiktionary derives it from Proto-West Germanic *wandōn (“to turn, to change”) with a frequentative suffix *-rōn.^[1] Holthausen puts Old English wandrian with Middle High German wander (“change, course”) and refers to windan.^[2] Köbler instead refers the Old English and Old Frisian verbs to Proto-Germanic *wratōn "to go, to wander".^[3][4]

Morphology

Old Frisian has it as a weak verb of class II,^[5][4] while Köbler classes the Old English verb as a weak verb of class I.^[3]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English wandrian and Old Frisian wondria,^[2][6] and Holthausen also names Middle Low German and Middle High German forms.^[2] Wiktionary marks the Old Saxon, Old Dutch and Old High German forms as unattested.^[1]

Meanings

1. to wander^[1][2]
2. to waver, to change^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to roam, to fly about" and "to err",^[2] and Old Frisian for "to travel".^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: wandrian (“to wander, to roam, to change, to err”)^[2]
• Old Frisian: wondria (“to wander, to travel”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wandarōn
2. ^ a b c d e f g Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wandrian
3. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wandrian
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wandria
5. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. wondria
6. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wondria