*wedr

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *wedr for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *wedrą (“weather”),^[1][2] which Orel cites as *weđran and Köbler as *wedra-, *wedram.^[3][4] Kroonen reconstructs *weþra- beside *wedra-, because a Walser German form points to a variant with *þ; he concludes that the word may have been a mobile neuter before Proto-Germanic.^[2] Ringe and Taylor describe how the loss of final *-a, *-ą and *-az in Proto-West Germanic left *r and the other sonorants between an obstruent and the end of the word, as in *akr "field" and *fingr "finger"; they take these sonorants to have been presumably syllabic.^[5]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[6][7][8]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English weder,^[9] Old Frisian weder,^[10] Old Saxon wedar, in the Heliand,^[11] and Old High German wetar, in glosses from the end of the 8th century.^[8] Boutkan and Siebinga also record Old Frisian wether, which shows the merger of medial *-d- and *-þ-, and weer, with a late loss of medial *-d-.^[12] Old Dutch has only the compound giwideri (“storm”), recorded in the Old Low and Middle Franconian psalms and glosses of the 10th century and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[13][14]

Meanings

1. weather^[1]

Old English also used the word for "air", "sky" and "wind",^[9] Old Saxon for "storm",^[7] and Old High German for "air", "wind", "storm" and "good weather".^[8]

Derivatives

• *unwedr "bad weather, storm", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[15] Old English has unweder (“bad weather, storm”), beside Old Frisian unweder.^[16]
• *wedrōn "to expose to the weather; to be in a particular state of the weather", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[17] Orel derives Old English wederian (“to be good or bad weather”) from the noun.^[3]
• Köbler reconstructs Proto-Germanic *gawedrja- "thunderstorm" for Old English gewidere, Old Dutch giwideri and Old High German giwitiri.^[18]

Reflexes

• Old English: weder (“weather, air, sky, wind”)^[9]
• Old Frisian: weder (“weather”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: wedar (“storm, weather”)^[11]
• Old High German: wetar (“weather, air, wind, storm”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wedr
2. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 583
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 452
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wedra-
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 48
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. weder
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wedar
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wetar
9. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. weder
10. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. weder
11. ^ a b Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 439
12. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. weder-
13. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. giwideri
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. giwideri
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *unwedr
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. unweder
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wedrōn
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *gawedrja-, *gawedrjam