*god

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the noun *god "god, deity" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gudą (“god”),^[2][1] which Kroonen cites as *guda-, Orel as *ʒuđ(z) and Köbler as *guda-, *gudam, *guþa-.^[3][4][5] Ringe and Taylor list it with *gulþą "gold" among the words in which Old Norse varies between u and o, Old Norse goð beside guð, while the West Germanic languages all have o; they put such variants down to levelling after the lowering of *u to *o before a non-high vowel.^[2] EWA likewise explains the Norse variants by a different levelling of the effects of a-umlaut.^[6]

Morphology

An a-stem noun,^[6][7] masculine in Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old Dutch and Old High German;^[6] Old English has a masculine for "God" and a neuter for "a god".^[6] Boutkan and Siebinga note that Gothic and Old Norse use the neuter when the word refers to a heathen god, and think the original gender may have been neuter;^[8] Orel likewise takes the masculine forms for secondary.^[4]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English god, Old Frisian god, Old Saxon god, Old Dutch got and Old High German got.^[8] Old High German has it from the 8th century,^[6] and Köbler counts 573 Old Saxon instances.^[9] ONW records the Old Dutch word in the Old Low Franconian psalms, dated there to 901–1000, and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[10] EWA cites Lombard personal names in ⟨Gudi-⟩, ⟨Gud(e)-⟩ and ⟨Godi-⟩, which however cannot be surely separated from the word for "good".^[6] Ringe and Taylor note that Old English godspell was rendered in Old High German as gotspel, as if its first element were the word for "god" rather than guot "good".^[11]

Competing analyses

Orel finds traces of an s-stem in the plural in Old Norse and Old High German.^[4] EWA rejects an s-stem, taking plurals such as Old High German abgutir for analogical, and also rejects a former consonant stem, set up by Casaretto on the evidence of the Gothic genitive singular and of the Old High German compounds with the first element got-.^[6]

Meanings

1. god, deity^[1][2]

Old Frisian used the word for the Christian God, for Jesus Christ and for a heathen god.^[12]

Derivatives

• *godakund "godlike, divine", which Wiktionary reconstructs from Old English godcund, Old Saxon godkund and Old High German gotkund;^[13] Köbler lists the Old English and Old Saxon compounds.^[7][9]
• *godalaus "godless", which Wiktionary reconstructs, from Proto-Germanic *gudalausaz;^[14] Köbler lists the Old English compound.^[7]
• *godawabi "precious garment", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[15] Orel sets up Proto-Germanic *ʒuđ(a)-waƀjaz behind Old English godweb, Old Saxon godowebbi and Old High German gotawebbi.^[4]
• Ringe derives Proto-Germanic *gudjō- (“priest”) from *gudą.^[16]

Reflexes

• Old English: god (“God, a god”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: god (“God, Jesus Christ, heathen god”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: god (“God”)^[18]
• Old Dutch: got (“God”)^[10]
• Old High German: got (“God”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *god
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 28
3. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 193
4. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 145
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *guda-
6. ^ 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. got
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. god
8. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. god 1
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. god
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. got
11. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 282
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. god
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *godakund
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *godalaus
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *godawabi
16. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 325
17. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. god
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 166