*aigan

*aigan¹ to possess, to own

Etymology tree of *aigan¹

inherited borrowed derived

Proto-Germanic *aiganą

Old Norse eiga

Proto-West Germanic *aigan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the verb *aigan for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *aiganą (“to own, to possess”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *aigan- and Köbler as *aigan.^[2][3] Findell notes that Orel sets up the Proto-Germanic verb as *aixa and Ringe as *aiganan.^[4] Ringe and Taylor trace the Old English third singular āh, Old Frisian āch, to Proto-Germanic *aih "(s)he has", with the Old English change of the diphthong to ā.^[5]

Morphology

A preterite-present verb.^[6][7] Old High German has only present forms.^[6] Old Saxon has, doubtfully, the third singular present aih, and the plural egun and the past ehta,^[8] and Old Frisian past forms such as ocht.^[9] Findell points to the grammatical change in the verb: Old High German has the infinitive eigan beside the first and third singular eih.^[4] It is disputed to which ablaut series the verb first belonged: Helm put it in the first class, with early levelling of the vowel, while Seebold, rightly in EWA's view, puts it in the series with the diphthong *ai.^[6]

Evidence

EWA finds corresponding verbs in almost all the Germanic languages, among them Old Saxon ēgan, Old Frisian āga, Old English āgan and Old High German eigan.^[6] The usual Old Frisian form is hāga, typical of the Riustring texts, its h- probably taken from hebba (“to have”).^[10] Wiktionary gives the Old Dutch form only as a reconstruction, *ēgan.^[1] Looijenga reads ⟨aig⟩ on one of a pair of silver-gilt bow brooches from Aquincum in Budapest, possibly Langobardic and dated to the first half of the 6th century, as the first or third singular present "owns", in an owner's formula "...l owns the brooch".^[11] Krause had read the rune as ⟨n⟩.^[11] Findell finds none of the interpretations of this inscription free of difficulties.^[4]

Meanings

1. to possess, to own^[1]
2. to have^[1]

Old English also used the verb for "to obtain", "to owe" and "must",^[12] Old Frisian mostly for "ought to, to be obliged",^[9][10] and Old High German also for "to hold, to consider".^[6]

Derivatives

• *aihti "possessions, property", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Kroonen takes Proto-Germanic *aihti- for a ti-stem formed to the root of the verb, the source of Old English ǣht and Old High German ēht.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: āgan (“to have, to possess, to obtain, to owe, must”)^[15]
• Old Frisian: āga (“ought to, to have, to possess, to owe”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: ēgan (“to have, to own, to possess”)^[8]
• Old High German: eigan (“to have, to possess, to hold, to consider”)^[6]

*aigan² own

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the adjective *aigan "own".^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz (“own”),^[16][17] which Kroonen cites as *aigena- and Orel as *aiʒanaz.^[2][17] Ringe and Taylor trace Old English āgen, genitive āgnes, from Proto-Germanic *aiganaz, *aiganas through Old English *āgąn, *āgænæs.^[18]

Morphology

An adjective.^[19][7] Ringe and Taylor note that it is attested with both *-an- and *-in- in the suffix: Old English āgen, Old Saxon ēgan and Old High German eigan from *aiganaz, but Old English ǣġen and Old High German eigin from *aiginaz, and the same variation in the neuter noun "property".^[16] Boutkan and Siebinga derive the by-forms of Old Frisian, ain and ein, from *ēgi- < *aigi-, and take the consonant of ēgen for a restoration after the verb or for Middle Low German influence.^[20]

Evidence

The adjective is attested in Old English āgen, Old Saxon ēgan and Old High German eigan,^[16] and in Old Frisian as ain, ein, ēin and ēgen.^[21] Old High German has it in glosses from the end of the 8th century.^(Köbler AHD|s.v. eigan (2)) For Old Dutch, Köbler records only an uncertain neuter noun, eg:n glossing Latin praedia.^[22]

Competing analyses

Orel takes *aiʒanaz for the past participle of the verb,^[17] and Boutkan and Siebinga likewise for the past participle of the preterite-present.^[20] Kroonen calls it an adjective derived from the verb.^[2] Ringe and Taylor hold that it is not, strictly speaking, a participle, though it shows the effect of Verner's law.^[16] They consider that the strong past participles of West Germanic may have been created by reinterpreting adjectives of this kind, beginning from *aiganaz ~ *aiginaz, but note that the word being strictly an adjective in both Old English and Old High German tells against that.^[23]

Meanings

1. own^[16][1]

Old Frisian also used the adjective for "unfree, serf",^[21] and Old English, Old Saxon, Old Frisian and Old High German used its neuter as a noun "property".^[16][21]

Derivatives

• *aiginōn "to appropriate, to take possession", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *aigan "own" and *-ōn:^[24] Old English āgnian "to possess, to claim, to appropriate".^[25]

Reflexes

• Old English: āgen (“own”)^[26]
• Old Frisian: ain (“own, belonging; unfree”)^[21]
• Old Saxon: ēgan (“own”)^[7]
• Old High German: eigan (“own, belonging, characteristic”)^[19]