*aggju

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *aggju for Proto-West Germanic,^[1][2] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *agjō (“edge”),^[1][4] which Kroonen cites as *agjō- and Orel as *aʒjō.^[4][5] Fulk likewise derives Old English eċġ from *aggju and that from *aʒjō.^[6] The geminate comes from the gemination of most consonants by a following *j, a Proto-West Germanic change that followed the loss of final *-ą and *-az.^[7] The *ggj that Old English inherited from West Germanic stayed palatal: *aggju became *æggju and then the Old English word.^[1]

Morphology

A feminine jō-stem.^[8][9] Ringe and Taylor list it among the ō-stems whose nominative singular ending *-u was later lost in Old English, through *eġġu.^[2]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English eċġ, Old Frisian egg, Old Saxon eggia and Old High German ecka.^[2] Köbler records the Old Saxon word in the Heliand of about 830,^[8] and EWA the Old High German one in glosses, in Notker and in the Würzburg boundary description.^[9] Old Frisian also has the forms eg, ig, egge and edze.^[10] Wiktionary gives only a reconstructed Old Dutch form, *egga.^[3]

Meanings

1. edge^[1][3]
2. corner^[3][8]

Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon also used the word for "sword",^[11][12][8] Old Frisian also for "side" and "party in a lawsuit",^[10] and Old High German also for "point" and "border".^[9]

Derivatives

• *aggjōn "to harrow", which Wiktionary reconstructs as formed from the noun with *-ōn;^[13] Orel derives a Proto-Germanic verb *aʒjōjanan from the noun, with Old English ecgan (“to sharpen”) and Old Frisian eggia (“to fence”).^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: eċġ (“edge, corner, sword”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: egg (“corner, edge, blade, sword, side, party”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: eggia (“edge”)^[15]
• Old High German: ecka (“edge, point, corner, border”)^[9]

References

1. ^ 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. 213
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 285
3. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *aggju
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 4
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 3
6. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 50
8. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. eggia
9. ^ a b c d 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. egga
10. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. eg
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ėcg
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. egg
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *aggjōn
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 4
15. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 95