*hakkōn

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to hack, to chop”),^[3] which Köbler cites as *hakkōn.^[4]

Morphology

A weak verb of class II.^[5][6] In Old English it was remade with the class II suffix *-ōjan as *hækkōjan, whence tōhaccian, one of the verbs that show a retracted a in Old English.^[1]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English haccian,^[7] with the compound tōhaccian (“to hack to pieces”),^[8] in Old Frisian tohakia (“to hack to pieces”),^[9] beside hakkia,^[10] and in Old High German hakkōn.^[1][6]

Competing analyses

Wiktionary lists Old French hacher among the descendants of the Proto-Germanic verb.^[3] Gamillscheg instead derives French hacher (“to chop”), recorded from the 13th or 14th century, from hache (“axe”), which he traces to Frankish *happja, and rejects a connection with German Hacke on phonetic grounds.^[11]

Meanings

1. to hack^[1][2]
2. to chop^[2]

Derivatives

• EWA takes Old High German hacka (“hoe”) for a back-formation from the verb.^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: haccian (“to hack”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: tohakia (“to hack to pieces”)^[9]
• Old High German: hakkōn (“to hack”)^[6]

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. 191
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hakkōn
3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hakkōną
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *hakkōn
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. haccian
6. ^ 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. hacka¹
7. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. haccian
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tōhaccian
9. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. tohakia
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hakkia
11. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 544