*gasti

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gastiz (“guest”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *gasti- and Orel as *ʒastiz.^[4][5] West Germanic lost word-final *-z after an unstressed syllable, so that the nominative *gastiz became *gasti.^[3] Since nasalization of final vowels was lost as well, the nominative *gastiz and the accusative *gastį fell together as *gasti.^[1] The nominative plural *gastīz became *gastī, whose long *-ī was not shortened and survived in Old Saxon and Old High German gesti;^[6][7] the accusative plural *gastinz perhaps became *gastį̄.^[3]

Morphology

A masculine i-stem.^[8][9] The Old English plural ġiestas, like most other i-stems, took its ending from another stem class.^[7] After a heavy stem the final -i was lost, giving Old High German gast and Old Saxon gast.^[10]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English ġiest, Old Frisian jest, Old Saxon gast and Old High German gast.^[1][11] West Saxon ġiest, with palatal diphthongization and i-umlaut, developed through *gæsti, *ġæsti, *ġeasti, while Northumbrian has ġest.^[12][13] Wiktionary gives the Old Dutch form only as a reconstruction.^[2] EWA notes that the word is frequent as an element of personal names in all the Germanic languages, among them Latin-Lombard names in ⟨-gast(i)us⟩.^[9] Orel cites the Old Low Franconian personal name Saligast beside Old English selegist (“guest in a hall”).^[14] Looijenga reads ⟨arogis⟩ on the Schretzheim I box as the name Arogīs(l), but allows the reading Arogist, or possibly Arogast, with the second element from Germanic *gastiz.^[15]

Meanings

1. guest^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "stranger" and "enemy",^[16] Old Saxon also for "enemy",^[5] and Old High German for "stranger", "host" and "visitor".^[9][17]

Derivatives

• *gastihūs "lodge, inn, guesthouse", which Wiktionary reconstructs from Proto-Germanic *gastihūsą;^[18] Ringe and Taylor cite Mercian ġesthūsum "guesthouses".^[11]
• *gastisali "hostel, inn", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[19] Krogh traces Old Saxon gastseli and its variant gestseli to *gasti-, comparing West Saxon ġiestsele with i-umlaut and Old High German compounds without it, such as gasthūs.^[20]

Reflexes

• Old English: ġiest (“guest, stranger, enemy”)^[16]
• Old Frisian: jest (“guest”)^[21]
• Old Saxon: gast (“guest”)^[22]
• Old High German: gast (“stranger, guest, host, visitor”)^[9]

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. 55
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gasti
3. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 43
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 127
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 15
7. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 300
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gast
9. ^ a b c d 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. gast
10. ^ Findell, Martin (2012), Phonological Evidence from the Continental Runic Inscriptions, Ergänzungsbände zum Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde 79, Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter
11. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 216
12. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 244
13. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 287
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 315
15. ^ Looijenga, Tineke (2003), Texts and Contexts of the Oldest Runic Inscriptions, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. Schretzheim I
16. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. giest
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gast
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gastihūs
19. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gastisali
20. ^ Krogh, Steffen (1996), Die Stellung des Altsächsischen im Rahmen der germanischen Sprachen, Studien zum Althochdeutschen 29, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht
21. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. jest
22. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 154