*fōgijan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *fōgijan "to fit together" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fōgijaną (“to fit or join together”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *fōgjan- and Köbler as *fōgjan.^[3][4] Ringe and Taylor list it among the lexemes found only in West Germanic, which are more or less isolated etymologically.^[1] In Old English the root vowel was fronted to *œ̄, giving *fœ̄ġjąn and West Saxon fēġan.^[5]

Morphology

A transitive verb,^[1] a weak verb of class I.^[6][7]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English fēġan, Old Saxon fōgian and Old High German fuogen,^[1] and in Old Frisian fōgia.^[8] Old Saxon has only the past participle ⟨gifuogid⟩ in the Heliand.^[9][7] Old Dutch has fuogen in the Old Low and Middle Franconian Psalms and glosses of the 10th century,^[10] and Old High German has the verb from the 8th century, in Otfrid, Notker and glosses.^[6] The Danish and Swedish verbs were taken from Middle Low German.^[6]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes it for a causative to an unattested strong verb *fahan-, the source also of the noun for "joint", and derives the adjective *fagra- "fair" from the same root.^[3][11] EWA sees in it an intensive-iterative formed directly from the root without the nasal, "to fasten again and again", hence "to join", beside the nasal-infix present behind fāhan;^[6] it thinks a derivation from the noun fuoga unlikely, since that noun is probably formed from the verb.^[6]

Meanings

1. to fit together^[1][2]
2. to join^[3][2]

Old Frisian also used the verb for "to suit, to please" and "to convey",^[8] and Old High German for "to arrange", and with a reflexive pronoun "to join, to belong to".^[6]

Derivatives

• *fōgī "fitting, suitable", which Wiktionary reconstructs; it reports Heidermanns's two proposals, a derivative of *fōgijan, or an adjective from a lost strong verb from which *fōgijan itself would be derived.^[12]

Reflexes

• Old English: fēġan (“to join, to fit, to make”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: fōgia (“to join, to add, to suit”)^[8]
• Old Saxon: fōgian (“to join together”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: fuogen (“to join”)^[10]
• Old High German: fuogen (“to join, to fit together, to arrange”)^[6]

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. 126
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fōgijan
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 150
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fōgjan
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 227
6. ^ a b c d e f g 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. fuogen
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fōgian
8. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fōgia
9. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. fōgian
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. fuogen
11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 122
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fōgī
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fœ̄gan