*jār

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *jār for Proto-West Germanic,^[1][2] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *jērą (“year”),^[1][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *jēra- and Orel as *jēran.^[4][5] Ringe and Taylor trace it from Proto-Germanic *jērą through Proto-Northwest Germanic *jārą, with the change of stressed *ē to *ā throughout Northwest Germanic.^[6][1]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[7][8]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages, and its vowel divides the northern dialects from the southern.^[1] Old High German jār keeps the Proto-West Germanic *ā, as does Old Saxon jār in manuscript C of the Heliand, while manuscript M has gēr, with the vowel fronted to *ǣ; the same fronting lies behind West Saxon Old English ġēar, Mercian and Kentish ġēr, and Old Frisian jēr.^[1][2] Long *ā was fronted in West Saxon and fronted and raised to a mid vowel in Kentish and Anglian, and the Old Frisian outcome is written with ⟨ē⟩.^[9] Boutkan and Siebinga put the Old Frisian variants with ⟨g-⟩ down to the merger of *g and *j before front vowels, and see in the by-form iār of Old West Frisian the low reflex of *ē also found in Dutch.^[10] EWA records jār from the 8th century, in the Vocabularius and the Abrogans among other glosses.^[8] In Old Dutch, Köbler records it in the Middle Franconian Psalms of the 9th century,^[11] and ONW in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible.^[12]

Competing analyses

Ringe and Taylor accept the majority view that Proto-Germanic *ē first became *ā throughout Northwest Germanic and that the northern West Germanic dialects later fronted it again.^[13] They adduce Stiles's evidence from the adverbs "there" and "where", whose long *ā arose only by a West Germanic lengthening and yet has the same front outcome as Proto-Germanic *ē in each Old English dialect.^[13] Against Grønvik, who held that early records with ⟨ē⟩ such as Caesar's Suebi show the vowel was still Proto-Germanic, they argue that the change spread through a differentiated dialect continuum, which some tribes in the later West Germanic area may never have joined.^[14] They also find that none of these northern changes was shared only by the ancestors of Old English and Old Frisian, since all were shared at least in part by Old Saxon.^[15]

Meanings

1. year^[1][3]

Wiktionary also glosses the word "harvest",^[3] a sense Köbler gives for the Proto-Germanic word beside "good year".^[16] Old Saxon also used it as the name of the j-rune.^[7][17]

Derivatives

• *jāradag "a day of the year", which Wiktionary reconstructs, continuing Proto-Germanic *jēradagaz.^[18]
• Orel sets up a Proto-Germanic compound *jēra-talan "reckoning by years", with Old Frisian iertel (“one year”).^[5]

Reflexes

• Old English: ġēar (“year”)^[19]
• Old Frisian: jēr (“year”)^[20]
• Old Saxon: jār (“year”), gēr^[7]
• Old Dutch: jār (“year”)^[12]
• Old High German: jār (“year”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 150
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 216
3. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *jār
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 273
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 206
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 12
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. gēr
8. ^ a b c 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. jâr
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 149
10. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. jer
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. jār
12. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. jār
13. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 12–13
14. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 13
15. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 158
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *jēra-
17. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. jār
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *jāradag
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. géar
20. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. jēr