*friund

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *frijōndz (“friend”),^[1] which Ringe and Taylor write *frijō̄nd-, Kroonen *fri(j)ōnd- and Orel *frijōndz.^[1][4][5] Ringe and Taylor, following Luick, posit a change of *ijō̄ to *iu in this word in Proto-West Germanic.^[1] It is the only word in which a long ō-vowel not at the end of a word can be shown to have become a u-vowel throughout West Germanic, and since the sequence *ijō̄ with stressed *i is unique, they warn against generalising from it.^[1] Old English frīond and Old Frisian friūnd continue the diphthong *iu.^[2]

Morphology

A masculine nd-stem.^[6][7][8] EWA and Orel take the Proto-Germanic word for the present participle of the verb "to love", EWA's *frijōjan-, and Boutkan and Siebinga likewise call it a present participle of that verb.^[9][5][10] Old High German friunt is a consonant stem that also takes a-stem endings.^[9]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English frēond, Old Frisian friūnd, Old Saxon friund and Old High German friunt,^[1] and Old Dutch friunt in Williram's commentary of about 1100 and the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible.^[11] Boutkan and Siebinga reconstruct Proto-Frisian *friund; the Old Frisian spelling friund of the B, E and H texts shows the expected diphthong, while ⟨io⟩ in R stands for a variant of /iu/ before dentals.^[10]

Meanings

1. friend^[1][3]

Old English also used the word for "lover" and "relative",^[6] Old Frisian for "blood relative",^[12] Old Saxon for "relative",^[8] and Old High German for "neighbour" and "protégé".^[13] EWA traces the sense "relative" to the old Germanic tribal order, in which the family was the smallest social unit;^[9] Boutkan and Siebinga suggest it may go back to an earlier sense "one's own".^[10]

Derivatives

• *friundskapi "friendship", which Ringe and Taylor write *friund(V)skapi: Old English frīondsċipe, Old Saxon friundskepi, Old High German friuntscaf.^[14] It is one of several compounds in *-skapi shared by West Germanic languages that may go back to Proto-West Germanic.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: frēond (“friend, lover, relative”)^[6]
• Old Frisian: friūnd (“blood relative, friend”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: friund (“friend, relative”)^[15]
• Old Dutch: friunt (“friend”)^[11]
• Old High German: friunt (“friend, neighbour, relative”)^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 62
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 175
3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *friund
4. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 155
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 114
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fréond
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. friūnd
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. friund
9. ^ a b c 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. friunt
10. ^ a b c Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. friond
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. friunt
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. friūnd
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. friunt
14. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 132
15. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 144