*hammjan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *hammjan for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hamjaną (“to press, to hinder”),^[1] which Kroonen cites as *hamjan-, Köbler as *hamjan and Orel as *xam(m)janan.^[2][3][4] The double m of Wiktionary's form fits the gemination of most consonants by a following *j, which Ringe and Taylor describe as a Proto-West Germanic sound change that followed the loss of final *-ą and *-az.^[5]

Morphology

A weak verb of class I.^[6][7]

Evidence

The verb is attested as Old English hemman (“to hinder, to stop up, to close”)^[8] and Old Frisian hemma, also hamma.^[9] Old High German has only the prefixed Old High German gihemmen (“to humiliate”), once, in a 12th-century gloss.^[10] Kroonen also cites Old Dutch chamian (“to clamp”), which he labels Old Low Franconian.^[2] Outside West Germanic, Orel cites Old Norse hemja (“to restrain”).^[4]

Competing analyses

Kroonen puts the verb, with a "perhaps", with Proto-Germanic *haman- (“rod, shaft”).^[2] Orel derives it instead from Proto-Germanic *xam(m)ō (“ham”),^[4] a derivation that Wiktionary finds semantically more tenuous than Kroonen's.^[11]

The Old Frisian verb is glossed "to hinder" by Kroonen, who sets it with the Old English one,^[2] but "to mutilate" by Hofmann and Popkema and by Köbler.^[9][7] Köbler derives it from a Germanic *hammjan "to be mutilated", from a root meaning "mutilated, hornless",^[7] while Holthausen and Orel list it with Old English hemman.^[8][4]

Meanings

1. to press^[1]
2. to obstruct, to hinder, to restrain^[1]
3. to hem in, to enclose^[1]

Old English also used the verb for "to stop up",^[8] and Old High German had the prefixed verb for "to humiliate, to press down".^[10]

Reflexes

• Old English: hemman (“to hinder, to stop up, to close”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: hemma (“to mutilate”)^[9]
• Old High German: gihemmen (“to humiliate, to hinder”)^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hammjan
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 206
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *hamjan
4. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 158
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 50
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hėmman
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hamma
8. ^ a b c d Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hemman
9. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hemma
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gihemmen
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hamjaną