*augijan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *augijan "to cause to see, to show, to display" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *augijaną (“to show”),^[1][2] which Kroonen cites by its stem *augjan-, Orel as *auʒjanan and Köbler as *augjan.^[2][3][4] EWA sets up Proto-Germanic *au̯ǥ-ii̯e/a-.^[5] Kroonen calls it a jan-verb made to *augōn- "eye", Orel derives it from *auʒōn, and EWA too takes it as probably formed from the noun, Old High German ouga (“eye”).^[2][3][5]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[5][6][7]

Evidence

The verb is recorded in all the West Germanic languages: Old English ēawan, also īewan, ēowan and ȳwan,^[8] Old Frisian āwa, also auwa,^[9] Old Saxon ōgian in the Heliand,^[6][5] Old Dutch ōgen in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century,^[10][5] and Old High German ougen, from the first half of the 9th century.^[5]

Competing analyses

Köbler refers the Old English verb not to *augjan but to a Germanic *awi- "eye".^[8] Ringe and Taylor find the Old English forms hard to explain: they think it conceivable that Old English æt-īewan "to show" goes back to a Proto-West Germanic *[atáwwjan] from a Proto-Germanic *awjaną "to show", but prefer a preform *at-auwijan, while the Gothic, Old Norse and Old High German cognates seem to reflect *at-augijaną, apparently a derivative of *augōn- "eye"; they conclude that the history of the word is not fully understood.^[11]

Meanings

1. to cause to see, to show, to display^[1][4]

Old English also used the verb for "to reveal",^[8] Old Frisian for "to prove",^[9] and Old High German for "to reveal, to make known, to prove".^[5]

Derivatives

• *ataugijan "to show, to display", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *at- and *augijan;^[12] for its Old English reflex Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the preform *at-auwijan.^[11]
• Old English formed the verb with æt-, ge- and oþ-,^[8] Old Saxon with at- and gi-,^[6] and Old High German has giougen (“to show, to make visible”).^[5]

Reflexes

• Old English: ēawan (“to show, to reveal, to manifest”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: āwa (“to show, to prove”)^[9]
• Old Saxon: ōgian (“to show”)^[6]
• Old Dutch: ōgen (“to show”)^[10]
• Old High German: ougen (“to show, to reveal, to prove”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *augijan
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 41
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 28
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *augjan
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. ougen¹
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ôgian
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. āuwa
8. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. éawan
9. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. āwa
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. ōgen
11. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 53
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *ataugijan