*fōrijan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *fōrijan "to lead, to bring".^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fōrijaną (“to lead, to bring”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *fōrjan-, Orel as *fōrjanan, and Fulk as *fōrijanan.^[3][4][5] Ringe and Taylor trace the Old English verb from Proto-(Northwest) Germanic *fōrijaną through *fœ̅rjąn, with the umlaut of *ō, to Northumbrian fœ̅ra and West Saxon fēran.^[2]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I,^[6][7] the causative of the strong verb *faran- "to go".^[3][7] Kroonen holds that its *ō is secondary and works in Germanic as the o-grade of *a.^[3] Fulk explains such causatives by the view that their stem was that of the past singular of a strong verb, so that the past singular stem of other strong verbs was taken over; this verb is his plainest instance, beside the Old Norse past singular fór "went".^[5] Hogg and Fulk's reconstructed paradigm of the verb before Old English has the infinitive *fōrijanan, the inflected infinitive *tō fōrijanjai, the present participle *fōrjanðijaz and the past participle *fōriðaz.^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English fēran, Old Frisian fēra, Old Saxon fōrian and Old High German fuoren.^[2] Old High German has it from the 8th century,^[7] Old Saxon in the Heliand,^[6] and Old Dutch fuoren in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible of 1151–1200.^[9] Boutkan and Siebinga reject the Gothic verb that Holthausen cites as a ghost word.^[10]

Meanings

1. to lead, to bring^[2][1]

In Old English the verb became intransitive, "to go, to travel",^[2] also "to come, to act".^[11] Old Frisian also used it for "to steer (a ship), to carry, to exercise",^[12] and Old High German for "to carry, to accompany, to tend, to endure".^[7]

Derivatives

• *fōþr "load, cartload", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Kroonen, finding the meaning "load" or "weight" in all of West Germanic, takes Proto-Germanic *fōþra- for an instrumental noun *fōrþra- to *fōrjan-, with dissimilation of the first r.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: fēran (“to go, to come, to travel, to act”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: fēra (“to lead, to bring, to steer, to carry, to exercise”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: fōrian (“to lead, to guide, to carry, to bring”)^[6]
• Old Dutch: fuoren (“to lead, to carry”)^[9]
• Old High German: fuoren (“to bring, to carry, to lead, to accompany”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fōrijan
2. ^ 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. 227
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 151
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 110
5. ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fōrian
7. ^ a b c d e 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. fuoren
8. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. fuoren
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. fēra
11. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fēran
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fēra
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fōþr
14. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 152