*garu

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *garu for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *garwaz (“ready, prepared”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *garwa- and Orel as *ʒarwaz.^[2][3] Ringe and Taylor describe the change behind such forms: when unstressed *a and *ą were lost, a preceding *w after a consonant became syllabic *u, as in *gelwaz "yellow" > *gelu.^[4]

Morphology

A wa-stem adjective;^[5][6] the w appears in Old Saxon oblique forms such as ⟨garouues⟩ and ⟨garouua⟩.^[6] Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German also use the word as an adverb.^[7][8][9]

Evidence

The adjective is found only in North and West Germanic.^[9][5] It is attested as Old English ġearu,^[10] Old Saxon garu, in the Heliand,^[11] Old Dutch garo, for Latin paratus in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 9th century,^[12] and Old High German garo, from the 8th century.^[9] Wiktionary gives the Old Frisian form only as a reconstruction.^[1]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes the adjective for a probably prefixed variant of *arwa- "ready", that is *ga-arwa-,^[2] and Wiktionary too derives it probably from *ga- and *arwaz.^[13] Heidermanns rejects this analysis, revived by Sanders, because the prefix Proto-Germanic *ga- was not combined with primary adjectives at so early a date; he takes the adjective for a back-formation from the ja-verb, which itself belongs to *arwa-, and so explains its use as a past participle in North Germanic.^[5] EWA agrees that a back-formation from the verb is more likely.^[9]

Berr connects the word with Greek and Sanskrit words for heat.^[14] Heidermanns and EWA reject this connection, which rests on the late meaning "cooked".^[5][9]

Meanings

1. ready, prepared^[2][1]

Old Saxon and Old High German also used the adjective for "adorned" and "dressed",^[11][9] and the adverb for "completely".^[8][9]

Derivatives

• *garwijan "to prepare": Old English ġierwan, Old Saxon gerwian, Old High German garewen.^[15] Kroonen calls the Proto-Germanic verb a factitive derived from the adjective,^[2] while Heidermanns derives the adjective from the verb.^[5]
• *garwiþu "garment, gear", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[16] Old High German has garawida (“clothing, equipment”).^[17]

Reflexes

• Old English: ġearu (“ready, prepared, equipped”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: garu (“ready, prepared, available”)^[6]
• Old Dutch: garo (“ready”)^[12]
• Old High German: garo (“ready, prepared, equipped, adorned”)^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *garu
2. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 127
4. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 46
5. ^ a b c d e Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. garwa-
6. ^ a b c Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. garu
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gearu
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. garo
9. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. garo
10. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. gearu
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. garu
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. garo
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *garwaz
14. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 154
15. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 157
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *garwiþu
17. ^ 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. garawida