*fehtan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *fehtan "to fight" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1][2] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fehtaną (“to fight”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites as *fehtan-, Köbler as *fehtan and EWA as *feχtan-.^[4][5][6] EWA reconstructs the Proto-Germanic past as *faχt, *fuχtum and the past participle as *fuχtana-, and thinks that their *u was probably taken over from verbs whose root contained *ul.^[6]

Morphology

A strong verb.^[4][7] EWA puts it in class IIIb, with the Old High German principal parts fehtan, ⟨faht⟩, ⟨fuhtun⟩, ⟨gifohtan⟩,^[6] and Seebold gives the Old English ones as feohtan, ⟨feaht⟩, ⟨fuhton⟩, ⟨fohten⟩.^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old Saxon fehtan, Old High German fehtan, Old English feohtan and Old Frisian fiuchta.^[1] In Old English the West Saxon form ⟨feohtan⟩ has breaking before h, while Mercian has ⟨fehtan⟩ and Northumbrian ⟨fehta⟩ with later monophthongization.^[2] In Old Dutch, ONW records the present participle ⟨fehtinda⟩ in the Old Low Franconian psalms of 901–1000.^[9] The Old Saxon verb is found as ⟨vehtad⟩, glossing Latin percutiemus, in the Essen gospel glosses of the 10th century,^[10] while the Heliand has only the noun fehta.^[6] Old High German has the verb from the 8th century.^[6]

Competing analyses

The vowel before h is broken both in Old English feohtan and in Old Frisian fiuchta.^[1] Ringe and Taylor hold that this was not a single change shared by the two languages: breaking was the earliest distinctively Old English sound change to affect these vowels, while in Old Frisian it seems to have followed both i-umlaut and the loss of intervocalic *h, so a common origin is overwhelmingly unlikely.^[1]

Meanings

1. to fight^[1][3]

Old High German also used the verb for "to struggle, to contend",^[6] and Old Frisian also for "to fight a judicial duel".^[11]

Derivatives

• Köbler sets up a noun Proto-Germanic *fehtō (“fight, battle”), continued by Old English feohte, Old Saxon fehta and Old High German fehta.^[12]
• Köbler sets up a prefixed verb Proto-Germanic *anfehtan (“to fight against”), continued by Old English onfeohtan, Old Frisian onfiuchta and Old High German anafehtan.^[13]

Reflexes

• Old English: feohtan (“to fight, to contend, to attack”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: fiuchta (“to fight, to fight a judicial duel, to attack”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: fehtan (“to fight”)^[10]
• Old Dutch: fehtan (“to fight”)^[9]
• Old High German: fehtan (“to fight, to struggle, to contend”)^[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. 178
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 312
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fehtan
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 134
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fehtan
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. fehtan
7. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. feohtan
8. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. s.v. feht-a-
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. fehtan
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fehtan
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fiuchta
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fehtō
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *anfehtan