*haup

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *haup "heap, pile; crowd, throng" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and EWA sets up West Germanic *χau̯pa-.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *haupaz (“heap, pile”),^[1][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *haupa- and Köbler as *haupa-, *haupaz.^[3][4] Boutkan and Siebinga label the Proto-Germanic form as Proto-(West) Germanic.^[5]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem;^[2][6] Old English has it as a masculine and a feminine.^[7][8]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English hēap, Old Frisian hāp, Old Saxon hōp and Old High German houf.^[2] Old High German has it in the Abrogans and other glosses and in Otfrid,^[2] Old Saxon in the Heliand, for Latin cohors,^[9] and Old Dutch as ⟨houph⟩ in Williram's commentary of 1100.^[10] Old English, Old Frisian and Middle Low German share the phrase "to the heap" for "together", as in tō hāpe.^[2][11] EWA holds that the North Germanic words for "heap, crowd", such as Old Norse hópr, were borrowed from Low German,^[2] and Boutkan and Siebinga too find the formation confined to West Germanic.^[5]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes the a-stem to continue an earlier *hauppa-, or else the full grade of the ablauting n-stem *hūpan- "pile, heap", the source of Old High German hūfo.^[3][12] Boutkan and Siebinga find a derivation from a root meaning "to bend" doubtful, since the formation is confined to West Germanic and the ablaut of hūfo is a problem, and think the word probably not Indo-European, following Beekes.^[5]

Meanings

1. heap, pile^[1][3]
2. crowd, throng^[1]

Old English also used the word for "company, band",^[7] Old Frisian for "a band of soldiers" and "a share of an inheritance",^[11] and Old High German for "mound, burial mound, rampart".^[2]

Derivatives

• *haupōn "to heap up", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] the Psalms have Old Dutch hōpon, of uncertain meaning, glossing Latin captō or, on another reading, copulō.^[14][5]

Reflexes

• Old English: hēap (“heap, crowd, company, band”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: hāp (“heap, band of soldiers”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: hōp (“heap, crowd”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: houph (“heap”)^[10]
• Old High German: houf (“heap, pile, mound”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *haup
2. ^ 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. houf
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 216
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *haupa-, *haupaz
5. ^ a b c d Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. hap
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hâp
7. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. heap
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. héap
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hôp
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. hōp
11. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hāp
12. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 257
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *haupōn
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hōpon