*hrif

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *hrif.^[1] Ringe and Taylor write the Proto-West Germanic word *hri/ef "womb".^[2] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *hrefaz (“body, belly”),^[3][4] which Köbler cites as *hrefa- and *hrifa-.^[4]

Morphology

A neuter noun, an a-stem in the daughters.^[5][6] Kroonen and EWA take it for an old s-stem.^[3][6]

Evidence

The word is attested as Old English hrif, glossing Latin uterus and venter,^[5] Old Dutch ref, in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century,^[7] and Old High German ref, with variants in ⟨hr-⟩, in Isidor, Tatian, Otfrid and glosses.^[6] Old Frisian has ref and ⟨rif⟩ "diaphragm";^[8] EWA takes them for back-formations from the compound midrif, as the meaning and the loss of h- show, and finds no Old Frisian form with h-.^[6] Old Saxon has only the compound inhrif (“entrails”), in a gloss;^[6] EWA calls the Old Saxon simplex a ghost word.^[6]

Competing analyses

The vowel differs between Old English and Old High German, and the sources explain this in different ways.^[2][3][6] Ringe and Taylor count the word among those in which Old High German has e where the other West Germanic languages have i, the result of a lowering of *i in the southern part of West Germanic before labial and velar obstruents followed by a nonhigh vowel.^[9] Kroonen sees two variants of an old s-stem, Old English hrif from *hrefiz- and Old High German href from *hrefaz-.^[3] EWA likewise starts from a Proto-Germanic *χrefiz-, *-az- that split into West Germanic *χrefa(z)- and *χrefi(z)-, the latter becoming *χrifi(z)-,^[6] and Boutkan and Siebinga put the alternation down to the variation within the paradigm, nominative *hrifi against genitive *hrefa.^[10]

Meanings

1. womb^[2][1]

Old English used the word for the belly and lower abdomen,^[11] Old High German for the womb and the belly,^[6] and Old Frisian for the diaphragm.^[8]

Derivatives

• *middjahrif "midriff", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[12] Old English has midhrif (“diaphragm”) and Old Frisian midhref,^[13][14] and EWA finds the compound only in West Germanic.^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: hrif (“belly, abdomen, womb”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: ref (“belly, diaphragm”)^[8]
• Old Dutch: ref (“belly, womb”)^[7]
• Old High German: ref (“womb, belly”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hrif
2. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 35
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 244
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *hrefa-, *hrefam, *hrifa-, *hrifam
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. hrif
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. ref
7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. ref
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. href
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 34–35
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. -rif
11. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hrif
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *middjahrif
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. midhrif
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. midhrif