*hrainī

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the adjective *hrainī "clean, pure" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hrainiz (“clean, pure”),^[1][2] which Kroonen and Heidermanns cite as the i-stem *hraini- and EWA as *χrai̯ni-.^[3][4][2] EWA notes that West Germanic, as usual, moved the adjective into the ja-stems,^[2] which Wiktionary expresses as *hrainiz with the adjective suffix *-ī.^[1] Kroonen takes the Proto-Germanic word for an adjective formed to a nasal present that Germanic no longer has, comparing Latin cernō (“to sift”).^[3] In Frisian the diphthong became ē, as in the Old Frisian dative singular feminine rēnere, which de Vaan lists among the reflexes of West Germanic *ai.^[5] Kroonen notes that the diphthong was regularly kept in Middle Dutch before an umlaut factor, as in this word.^[6]

Morphology

An adjective; in Old High German a ja-stem.^[2] Köbler sets up the Proto-Germanic adjective both as an i-stem *hraini- and as a ja-stem *hrainja-.^[7]

Evidence

The adjective is attested in Old Saxon hrēni, in the Heliand of about 830 and in glosses,^[8] Old High German reini, in glosses from the last quarter of the 9th century and in many texts,^[2] Old Dutch rēni, in Williram's commentary of 1100,^[9] and Old Frisian rēne.^[10][11] EWA lists no Old English word among the cognates; it notes that the adjective may appear in the English place name Rainworth, recorded as Reynwath in 1268, "clean ford", though the name may instead contain the word for a balk or boundary.^[2]

The Malberg gloss ⟨chrenecruda⟩ "loose earth(?)" in the Lex Salica has the spelling ⟨e⟩ for *ai if it contains *hraini- "pure", as Quak proposed in ONW.^[12] Van Helten rejected Grimm's interpretation of the gloss as "pure herb", arguing among other things that a word taken from Salian Frankish *hraini- could not have had an ⟨e⟩.^[13]

Meanings

1. clean, pure^[1]

Old Saxon also used the adjective for "fine" (of flour) and "free",^[8] and Old High German also for "chaste, spotless, holy, innocent".^[2]

Derivatives

• *hrainijan "to make clean", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[14] Köbler traces Old Saxon hrēnian and Old High German reinen (“to purify”) to Proto-Germanic *hrainjan.^[15][16]
• *hrainōn "to make clean", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[17] the Heliand has the past participle gihrenod,^[18] and Old High German has reinōn.^[19]
• *hrainisōn "to clean, to purify", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[20] Köbler sets up Proto-Germanic *hrainisōn for Old Norse and Old High German.^[21]

Reflexes

• Old Frisian: rēne (“pure”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: hrēni (“pure, fine, free”)^[8]
• Old Dutch: rēni (“pure”)^[9]
• Old High German: reini (“pure, clean, chaste, innocent”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hrainī
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. reini
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 241
4. ^ Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. hraini-
5. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2011), West-Germanic *ai in Frisian, Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik 67, 301–314, p. 307
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 261
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *hraini-
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hrêni
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. rēni
10. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. rēne
11. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. rene
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 97
13. ^ van Helten, Willem Lodewijk (1900), Zu den malbergischen Glossen und den salfränkischen Formeln und Lehnwörtern der Lex Salica, Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur 25, 225–542
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hrainijan
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hrênian
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. reinen
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hrainōn
18. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. hrēnon
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. reinōn
20. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hrainisōn
21. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *hrainisōn