*fūsti

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *funstiz (“fist”), as Wiktionary names the ancestor.^[2] Kroonen reconstructs it as *funhsti-, Köbler as *fuhsti-, *fusti- or *funhsti-, and Boutkan and Siebinga as *fūsti-;^[3][4][5] EWA sets up Proto-Germanic *fūsti- from earlier *funχsti-.^[6] In Old English the *ū was fronted by i-umlaut, and the final *-i of the i-stem was lost: *fūsti > *fȳsti > fȳst.^[1][7]

Morphology

A feminine i-stem.^[8][6] Krogh counts Old Frisian fest from *fūsti- among the i-umlauted forms of Old Frisian.^[9] In Old High German the umlaut is written ⟨iu⟩ regularly only by Notker, and the dative plural ⟨fuston⟩ follows the ō-stems.^[6]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English fȳst, Old Frisian fest, Old Saxon fūst and Old High German fūst,^[1][10] and EWA notes that its correspondences are only West Germanic.^[6] Old Saxon has it in glosses of the end of the 10th century,^[11] Old High German from the 8th century.^[6] Wiktionary gives the Old Dutch form only as a reconstruction, *fūst.^[2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen sets the word beside the Slavic word for "fist" and takes it for probably a derivative of the numeral Proto-Germanic *fimf (“five”);^[3] Holthausen also asks whether it belongs with Old English fīf.^[12] EWA finds the connection with "five" likely, the Germanic and Slavic words being perhaps variants with a sti-suffix of an abstract noun "group of five", but notes that, being found only in Germanic and Balto-Slavic, it remains a possibility; it reports Klingenschmitt's analysis as "place where the five (fingers) stand" and Hill's derivation from a verb "to grasp".^[6] Boutkan and Siebinga derive the word from a root meaning "to prick", with Latin pungō (“to prick”) and pugnus (“fist”), or else connect it with the Slavic word.^[5] EWA separates the Latin and Greek words, which belong to a root "to stab".^[6]

Meanings

1. fist^[1][2]

Old Saxon also used the word for the hollow of the hand,^[11] and Old High German for a handful as a measure.^[6]

Derivatives

• *fūstōn "to hit with one's fist", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Old High German has fūstōn (“to beat, to strike with the fist”) in glosses from about 765.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: fȳst (“fist”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: fest (“fist”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: fūst (“fist, rounded hand”)^[15]
• Old High German: fūst (“fist, handful”)^[6]

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. 224
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fūsti
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 160
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fuhsti-
5. ^ 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. fest
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. fûst
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 287
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fȳst
9. ^ Krogh, Steffen (1996), Die Stellung des Altsächsischen im Rahmen der germanischen Sprachen, Studien zum Althochdeutschen 29, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
10. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fest
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fūst
12. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fȳst
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fūstōn
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fūstōn
15. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. fūst