*baum

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *baum "tree" and list it among the words unique to West Germanic,^[1] adding that Old Norse baðmr and the Gothic word for "tree" are somehow connected with it, but the sound correspondences are not all regular.^[1] Wiktionary has the same form and takes it to be, possibly, inherited from Proto-Germanic *bagmaz (“tree, beam”),^[2] under which Kroonen, who writes *bagma-, lists the West Germanic words.^[3] Köbler sets up *bagma-, *bauma- and *bazma- side by side.^[4] Orel gives the West Germanic words a separate Proto-Germanic *ƀaumaz, and takes *ƀaʒmaz for an irregular transformation of it.^[5][6] EWA finds that the West Germanic forms point without difficulty to a West Germanic *baumaz, but that their relation to the Gothic and Norse words is unclear.^[7]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem.^[7][8]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English bēam, Old Frisian bām, Old Saxon bōm and Old High German boum,^[1][7] and Old Dutch bōm in Williram's commentary on the Song of Songs of about 1100 and in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible of 1151–1200.^[9]

Competing analyses

EWA sets out two ways of joining the West Germanic and the Gothic forms: a Proto-Germanic form with a medial *-g- or *-w- that became w in West Germanic, or one with the sharpened *-ww-, which appears as a diphthong in West Germanic and as *-ggw- in North and East Germanic.^[7] Both are possible phonetically,^[7] and EWA prefers the second, with a derivation from a root meaning "to grow".^[7] Orel too connects the West Germanic word with that root.^[5] Kroonen calls that derivation flawed, because the original meaning was "beam" rather than "tree", and thinks a connection with *bōgu- "shoulder, upper arm" more plausible.^[3] Boutkan and Siebinga find no certain Indo-European etymology and think it more probably a substrate word, with a sequence that gave rise to different Germanic dialect forms.^[10]

Meanings

1. tree^[1][2]
2. beam^[2]

Old English also used the word for "gallows" and "pillar",^[11] Old Frisian for "cudgel", "family tree" and "pole",^[12] and Old Saxon and Old High German for "cross".^[7]

Derivatives

• *baumijā "wooden implement, wooden horn", which Wiktionary reconstructs as apparently formed from *baum;^[13] Holthausen connects Old English bīeme (“wooden trumpet, tablet”) with bēam.^[14]
• Wiktionary reconstructs compound tree names such as *olibaum "olive tree", *buhsabaum "box tree" and *cedrubaum "cedar tree";^[15][16][17] Old Saxon has many such compounds.^[8]

Reflexes

• Old English: bēam (“tree, beam, gallows, pillar”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: bām (“tree, cudgel, family tree, pole”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: bōm (“tree, pole, gallows”)^[18]
• Old Dutch: bōm (“tree”)^[9]
• Old High German: boum (“tree, trunk, wood, stake, cross”)^[7]

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. 126
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *baum
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 47
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *bagma-
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 39
6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 32
7. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. boum
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. bôm
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. bōm
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. bām
11. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. beam
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. bām
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *baumijā
14. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. bieme
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *olibaum
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *buhsabaum
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *cedrubaum
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 67