*biskop

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *biskop for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] EWA too finds that the West Germanic words seem to go back to a common base *biskop,^[2] and Green writes the West Germanic form the same way.^[3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin episcopus (“bishop”) in a Vulgar Latin form, which goes back to Ancient Greek ἐπίσκοπος (epískopos, “overseer”).^[4][2] Green argues that two features of *biskop, the voicing of the first intervocalic -p- to -b- and the loss of the unstressed initial e-, show that it cannot come directly from Greek or Church Latin but must have come through Vulgar Latin.^[3] The Romance languages point to several starting points, *episcu in northern France and the Grisons, *epispu in southern France and Iberia, *viscopu and *viscovu in Italy and *piscopu in Sardinia;^[3] Green takes the likeness of the last to the West Germanic form for chance.^[3] In his account the voicing came first, then the loss of the initial vowel, helped by a false division of article and noun such as *illebescobo; the second -p- was kept because West Germanic had the stop b at the beginning of a word but in some dialects only a fricative or -p- inside it.^[5] Since the word was taken over after Romance had voiced -p- to -b-, which is dated to the 5th century, but before that -b- became a fricative, he puts the borrowing in the 5th or 6th century, perhaps already in the 5th, in view of the place name Bischheim, recorded in Alsace about 530.^[6] Because the replacement of medial b by -p- is typical of Old English, Low Franconian and Middle Franconian, he places the borrowing in the area of Trier and Cologne, reached from Gallo-Romance.^[7]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem.^[2][8] To explain the Middle High German form bischof, genitive ⟨-ves⟩, a second, High German variant with *-f- for *-p- has been proposed.^[2]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English bisceop, Old Frisian biskop, Old Saxon biskop, Old Dutch biskop and Old High German biskof.^[2][9] Green finds it present before 800 throughout the Upper and Middle German area.^[10] ONW records the Old Dutch word from the 10th century, in forms both with and without the High German consonant shift.^[9] Old Norse biskup comes from Old English.^[2][11]

Competing analyses

EWA, following Knapp's survey, names four routes into Old High German: with the Gothic mission, which it finds very unlikely; directly from Church Latin; in a Vulgar Greek form in the Roman Empire around Trier; or from Church Latin through Romance, which it holds most likely and which is widely accepted, though different Romance pre-forms are assumed, among them Pogatscher's and Waag's *ebẹscobu.^[2] Rotsaert sees two separate borrowings of Gallo-Romance *(e)bescobo: one between the 5th and 7th centuries, which gave West Germanic *biskop, and one after the 7th century, through Old Middle Franconian, which gave Old High German biskof with -f- in the genitive and so Middle High German bischof.^[2] Kretschmer, followed by Sonderegger and Knapp, derives it from a Vulgar Greek form ἐβίσκοπος (ebískopos) with β for π.^[2] Boutkan derives it from Romance *piscopu,^[11] and Berr from a Romance form *piskopu or similar.^[12]

Green finds the case for Gothic intermediaries even weaker than for "church": Wulfila used Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍀𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍀𐌿𐍃 (aipiskaupus), a learned form very unlike *biskop, and since Latin had episcopus there is less reason to look for an eastern route.^[4] EWA takes the Gothic word as borrowed directly from Greek,^[2] while Berr takes it from Latin episcopus.^[12]

The agreement of Old English bisceop with the continental forms was once taken to show a loan into West Germanic before the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain in the middle of the 5th century, but Green allows that England and Germany may have got the word from the same source independently, or that the continental form was taken to England later.^[13] He finds a continental loan of the 5th or 6th century too late to have reached the Anglo-Saxons before the migration, and thinks the word came from Frankish, either with Liudhard, the bishop whom the Frankish princess Bertha brought to Kent, or with Augustine's mission and its Frankish interpreters about 600.^[14] The word is also sometimes attributed to British mediation.^[15] Holthausen thinks the Old English form was influenced by scop.^[16]

Meanings

1. bishop^[10][1]

Green notes that the Germanic words meant "bishop", like the Greek word, even if Old High German and Old English sometimes equate them with "priest".^[10] Old Saxon also used the word for "high priest".^[8]

Derivatives

• *biskopadōm "bishopric", formed with *-dōm, which Wiktionary reconstructs.^[17]

Reflexes

• Old English: bisceop (“bishop”)^[16]
• Old Frisian: biskop (“bishop”)^[18]
• Old Saxon: biskop (“bishop, high priest”)^[8]
• Old Dutch: biscof (“bishop”)^[9]
• Old High German: biskof (“bishop, priest”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *biskop
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. biskof
3. ^ a b c d Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 302
4. ^ a b Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 301–302
5. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 303
6. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 303–304
7. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 304
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. biskop
9. ^ a b c Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. biskop
10. ^ a b c Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 301
11. ^ 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. biscop
12. ^ a b Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 59
13. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 302–303
14. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 304–305
15. ^ Green, D. H. (1998), Language and History in the Early Germanic World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 218
16. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. bisceop
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *biskopadōm
18. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. biskop