*aiwahaft

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the adjective *aiwahaft.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Proto-West Germanic *aiw² (“law”) + *haft (“captive, bound”).^[1] Boutkan and Siebinga likewise analyse Old Frisian afte as a compound of Proto-Germanic *aiwi- and *hafta-,^[2] and EWA puts Old High German ēhaft with ēwa (“law”) and the suffix -haft.^[3] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct Proto-West Germanic *haft "captive", from Proto-Germanic *haftaz "bound".^[4]

Morphology

An adjective.^[3][5] Boutkan and Siebinga suggest that *hafta- "captured" began to be used as a suffix in phrases where it was preceded by a modifier in the dative, with the sense "kept by, caught by".^[2] Old Frisian also has the word as a neuter noun "law, marriage" and as an adverb.^[6]

Evidence

The adjective is attested in Old Frisian afte,^[6] Old Saxon ēhaft, glossing Latin legitimus said of a man in glosses of the 10th century,^[5] and Old High German ēhaft beside ēwahaft, in glosses and in Notker.^[3][7] Wiktionary gives no Old English descendant, and the Old Dutch form only as a reconstruction.^[1]

Meanings

1. lawful^[1]
2. true, genuine^[1]

Old Frisian also used the adjective for "legitimate" of birth and for "married",^[6] and Old High German for "just" and "holy".^[7]

Derivatives

• *aiwahaftijan "to marry", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[8] EWA records the past participle ⟨geehafton⟩ "married" in Notker's psalm glosses.^[3]

Reflexes

• Old Frisian: afte (“lawful, legitimate, married”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: ēhaft (“lawful, legitimate”)^[5]
• Old High German: ēhaft (“lawful, legitimate, just”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *aiwahaft
2. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. afte
3. ^ a b c d e 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. êhaft
4. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 147
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. êhaft
6. ^ a b c d Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. afte
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ēwahaft
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *aiwahaftijan