*awi

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *awiz (“sheep”),^[1] which Kroonen cites as *awi-, and Orel and Köbler as *awiz.^[4][5][6] Ringe and Taylor gloss the Proto-Germanic word "sheep" and its Northwest Germanic continuation "ewe".^[7] In pre-Old English the *a was fronted before *w followed by *i, so that *awi became *æwi and then *ewi; the word then passed into the ō-stems, and back umlaut gave West Saxon Old English eowu.^[1][8] Hogg and Fulk likewise call the Old English word the regular outcome of Proto-Germanic *awi, first an i-stem, later reinterpreted as a jō-stem and remade with back umlaut.^[9]

Morphology

A feminine i-stem.^[10][11] EWA takes the Old High German nominative singular to be ou, not ⟨awi⟩ or ⟨ewi⟩.^[10] Kroonen holds that Germanic kept the inherited paradigm as *awiz, genitive *aujaz, which he finds behind the two forms Middle Dutch ouwe, from *awi-, and ooie, from *auj-.^[4]

Evidence

The noun is attested as Old English eowu,^[12] Old Frisian ei,^[13] Old Saxon ewi, written ⟨évvi⟩ for Latin agna in a gloss of the end of the 10th century,^[14] and Old High German ou, recorded in glosses from the second half of the 8th century,^[10] and in Notker.^[15] Wiktionary gives only unattested Old Dutch forms.^[3]

Competing analyses

EWA sees no compelling reason to set up a Proto-Germanic paradigm *awī, genitive *awjōz, beside the i-stem *awiz, since none of the Germanic forms can be explained only from it.^[10] Orel traces Old English eowu to *awjō,^[5] while Ringe and Taylor and Hogg and Fulk explain it from the i-stem moved into another stem class.^[1][9]

Meanings

1. ewe^[1][3]

Old English and Old Saxon also used the word for "ewe lamb",^[12][14] and Old High German for "female lamb".^[10]

Derivatives

• *awist(r) "sheepfold", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^(Wiktionary|s.v. *awist(r)) EWA derives Old High German ewist, Old English ēowestre and Gothic 𐌰𐍅𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍂 (awistr) from *awi- "sheep".^[16]
• Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Germanic *awidiją (“flock of sheep”);^[17] EWA derives the collectives Old High German ewit and Old English ēowde "flock of sheep" from *awiđja-.^[18]

Reflexes

• Old English: eowu (“ewe, ewe lamb”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: ei (“ewe”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: ewi (“ewe lamb”)^[14]
• Old High German: ou (“female lamb, ewe”)^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 148
2. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 289
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *awi
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 45
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 31
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *awi-
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 237
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 324
9. ^ a b Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell
10. ^ a b c d e f 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. ou
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ei
12. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. éowu
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. ei
14. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ewi
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. ou
16. ^ 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. ewist
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *awidiją
18. ^ 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. ewit