*hasō

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *hasō "hare" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] Ringe and Taylor give the Proto-Northwest Germanic forms *hasō̄, *hazan-.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hesô (“hare”),^[1] which Kroonen cites as *hesan- ~ *hazan-, EWA as *χasan- beside *χazan- and Köbler as *hasō-, *hasan-.^[3][4][5] EWA explains the alternation of *s and *z as the generalization of one of the two variants of Verner's law in a paradigm with nominative *χasō, accusative *χasanun, dative *χazeni and genitive *χaz(e)niz.^[4] The West Germanic form has the variant with *s, which Old English lacks.^[4]

Morphology

A masculine n-stem.^[4][5] In Proto-West Germanic the inherited ending *-ō remained the nominative singular of the masculine n-stems.^[6]

Evidence

Old Saxon and Old High German Old Saxon haso, Old High German haso and Old Frisian *hasa continue the variant with *s, while Old English hara has r by Verner's law, like the North Germanic forms.^[4] EWA finds the Old Frisian word only in the compounds hasmūled (“harelipped”) and ⟨hasskerde⟩ "harelip",^[4] while Hofmann and Popkema also list the simplex hasa from West Lauwers Frisian.^[7] In Old English the word became *hærā and then ⟨hara⟩, with the retracted a that normally appears in the root syllables of n-stems, most of whose endings had a.^[8] Old Dutch has it only in place names, such as ⟨Hasbroec⟩, Hazebroek near Dunkirk, recorded in 1122, and ⟨Haseberch⟩, Hazeberg near Leuven, in 1183.^[9] The Old Saxon ⟨haso⟩ is a single gloss in the Trier glosses of the early 11th century, which Holthausen thought might rather be Old High German.^[5] Old High German has the word from the 8th century in glosses and in Notker.^[4]

Competing analyses

Boutkan and Siebinga think that the variation between r and s may go back to the paradigm and was levelled out differently in the dialects; in this word Old Frisian goes with the continental West Germanic languages, not with Old English.^[10] Kroonen also finds ablaut in the root, with *hesan- in Nynorsk jase beside *hasan- in West Germanic.^[11]

Meanings

1. hare^[2][1]

Reflexes

• Old English: hara (“hare”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: hasa (“hare”)^[7]
• Old Saxon: haso (“hare”)^[5]
• Old Dutch: haso (“hare”), only in place names^[9]
• Old High German: haso (“hare”)^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hasō
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 192
3. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 223
4. ^ 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. haso
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. haso
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 117
7. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hasa
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 191–192
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. haso
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *hasa
11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2011), The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A Study in Diachronic Morphophonology, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 18, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi, p. 200
12. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hara