*īs

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the noun *īs "ice" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *īsą (“ice”),^[2][3] which Kroonen writes *isa-, Orel *īsaz and Köbler *īsa-.^[2][4][5] EWA derives the West Germanic words, with the Norse ones, from Proto-Germanic *īsa-.^[6]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[6][7][8] Kroonen gives the Proto-Germanic noun as masculine or neuter, Old Norse having a masculine and West Germanic a neuter.^[2] In view of the neuter gender of West Germanic he considers that the word may be an s-stem turned into a thematic stem.^[2]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English and Old Frisian as Old English īs and Old Frisian īs,^[7][9] and in Old High German as īs from the 8th century, in glosses and in Notker.^[6] Old Saxon has īs only as the name of the i-rune in the Abecedarium Nordmannicum,^[10] and EWA notes that this form could as well be Old Norse or Old English by its sound.^[6] EWA also cites a Lombard element ⟨īsi-⟩, ⟨īse-⟩ in personal names such as ⟨Îso⟩ and ⟨Îsipertus⟩.^[6]

Competing analyses

The gender of the Proto-Germanic noun is uncertain: Wiktionary reconstructs a neuter *īsą,^[3] Orel a noun that is masculine or neuter,^[4] and Köbler both a masculine *īsaz and a neuter *īsam.^[5]

Meanings

1. ice^[1]

Old High German also used the word for "frost", and its glosses render Latin glacies and nix durata "hardened snow".^[6]

Derivatives

• *īsēn "to freeze over", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[11] Old High German has īsēn (“to freeze, to turn to ice”) in Notker, formed from īs.^[12]
• *īsajikil "icicle", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *īs and *jikil;^[13] Old High German has īsilla (“icicle”) in glosses from the 10th to the 14th century, which EWA cross-refers to īs.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: īs (“ice”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: īs (“ice”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: īs (“ice; name of the i-rune”)^[10]
• Old High German: īs (“ice, frost”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *īs
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 271
3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *īsą
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 204
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *īsa-
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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. îs
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. īs
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. īs
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. īs
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. īs
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *īsēn
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. īsēn
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *īsajikil
14. ^ 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. îsilla