*þār

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *þār for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *þar (“there”), with a short vowel, as Gothic and Old Norse show.^[3][1] Orel derives the Proto-Germanic adverb from the pronominal stem *þa- with a locative -r,^[4] Kroonen too sees the locative suffix *-r in it,^[5] and Köbler gives *þar beside *þēr.^[6] Ringe and Taylor describe an apparently irregular Proto-West Germanic change that lengthened the vowel of this adverb and of *hwār "where".^[1] The vowels may have been lengthened under heavy deictic stress, as that of "here" probably was; or the long vowel of "here" may have led learners to take *[þar] for a fast-speech form of */þār/.^[1] Wiktionary also suggests the influence of *hēr.^[2]

Morphology

An adverb, in Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon also a conjunction.^[7][8][9]

Evidence

Old High German dār and Old Saxon thār have the expected ā, but the northern languages have a long front vowel: West Saxon þǣr, Anglian þēr and Old Frisian thēr.^[3] In Old Dutch, the Psalms of the 9th century have thar for Latin ibi.^[10]

Competing analyses

The adverb is part of Stiles's argument for a fronting of Proto-West Germanic *ā in the northern dialects, which Ringe and Taylor summarize: in each Old English dialect the lengthened vowel has exactly the outcome of Proto-Germanic *ē, so the back vowel of these words must have been fronted in northern West Germanic.^[3] To assume that *þar was first fronted and lengthened only later would need a further change to explain Northumbrian þēr beside bær "carried", so they find the fronting of the lengthened vowel much more economical.^[3] Fulk finds Stiles's argument inconclusive: if West Germanic had no ā at the time of the lengthening, the new long vowel would have been identified with the nearest existing one.^[11]

Kortlandt holds that the lengthening could have happened at any time before the Anglo-Frisian monophthongization of *ai to ā, because early West Germanic had no other long vowel than *ē¹ to match short *a, and that *þǣr arose before breaking and i-mutation.^[12] He sees no reason for a general retraction of *ē¹ to ā in Northwest Germanic, and finds that Stiles pays too little attention to the structure of the vowel system.^[13] He also discusses Hill's view that the long vowel goes back to a Proto-Germanic lengthening of monosyllables, a view that Hill admits the Scandinavian forms contradict.^[14]

Meanings

1. there^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "thither, where, when, although, if",^[7] Old Frisian for "where, when",^[15] and Old High German for "then, now, here, therein, thither".^[16]

Derivatives

• *þārud "thither, there", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *þār and an element of obscure origin;^[17] Old Saxon thārod and Old High German darot are traced to *þar-uđa, the second part being pre-Proto-Germanic *u-tá.^[18][4]

Reflexes

• Old English: þǣr (“there, thither, where, when”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: thēr (“there, where, when”)^[15]
• Old Saxon: thār (“there, when”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: thār (“there, when, where”)^[10]
• Old High German: dār (“there, then, here, now”)^[16]

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. 65
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *þār
3. ^ 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. 13
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 416
5. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 263
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *þar
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. þǣr
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. thēr
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. thār
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. thā
11. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
12. ^ Kortlandt, Frederik (2018), Anglo-Frisian 'here', 'there', 'where', Us Wurk 67, 97–103, p. 100
13. ^ Kortlandt, Frederik (2018), Anglo-Frisian 'here', 'there', 'where', Us Wurk 67, 97–103
14. ^ Kortlandt, Frederik (2018), Anglo-Frisian 'here', 'there', 'where', Us Wurk 67, 97–103, p. 102
15. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. thēr
16. ^ a b 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. dâr
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *þārud
18. ^ 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. darot