*geban

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *geban "to give" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and de Vaan writes the West Germanic stem *geƀan-.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *geban- and Orel as *ʒeƀanan.^[4][5]

Morphology

A strong verb of class V.^[6][7] Old Saxon geƀan, gaf, gāƀun and Old High German geban, gab, gābun continue the Proto-Germanic present, past singular and past plural *gebaną, *gab, *gēbun.^[3]

Evidence

The verb is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English ġiefan, Old Frisian jeva, Old Saxon gevan and Old High German geban.^[8][7] Pre-Old English *ġeban, with the same palatal initial as the Old Frisian verb, became the West Saxon form by the diphthongization of front vowels after palatals.^[3] Other dialects show back umlaut instead: Northumbrian ġeafa, Kentish āġiaban and the Mercian third plural āġeofað.^[8] Old Dutch has gevan in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century, and the Groningen psalm glosses of 1151–1175 have the imperative ⟨ief⟩.^[9]

Competing analyses

The palatal initial is evidence in the debate over an Anglo-Frisian group: Bremmer lists the palatalization and assibilation of *g and *k before front vowels, as in the Old English and Old Frisian verbs, among the sound changes shared by the two languages.^[10] Fulk sets the Old English and Old Frisian forms with initial ⟨j⟩ beside Low German ⟨jewen⟩ and Dutch geven, with a fricative, against Icelandic and New High German forms with a stop.^[11]

Meanings

1. to give^[1][3]

Old English also used the verb for "to give in marriage",^[12] Old Frisian for "to grant", "to bequeath" and "to pay",^[13] and Old High German for "to hand over" and "to leave".^[6]

Derivatives

• *gebu "gift", which Ringe and Taylor reconstruct as an ō-stem, with the accusative and genitive singular *gebā and the dative *gebē.^[14]
• *gebul "generous", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[15] Orel sets up Proto-Germanic *ʒeƀulaz behind Old English ġifol.^[5]
• *uʀgeban "to give up, to give back", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[16] Köbler lists the Old English prefixed verb with ā-.^[7]

Reflexes

• Old English: ġiefan (“to give, to hand over; to give in marriage”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: jeva (“to give, to grant, to bequeath, to pay”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: gevan (“to give, to deliver, to give in marriage”)^[17]
• Old Dutch: gevan (“to give”)^[9]
• Old High German: geban (“to give, to hand over, to leave”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *geban
2. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 109
3. ^ 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. 215
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 172
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 130
6. ^ 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. geban
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. giefan
8. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 325
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. gevan
10. ^ Bremmer, Rolf H., Jr. (2021), Taking stock of Old Frisian studies: 1992–2021, Us Wurk 70, 1–28
11. ^ Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. §6.5
12. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. giefan
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. jeva
14. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 114
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gebul
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *uʀgeban
17. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. gevan