*keuwan

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *kewwaną (“to chew”),^[1] which Kroonen cites by its stem *kewwan-, Orel as *kewwanan, and EWA as *keu̯u̯(i̯)e/a-.^[3][4][5] The Proto-West Germanic diphthong *eu was tensed in Old English like the diphthongs in *a but did not otherwise move, giving ⟨ēo⟩ in ċēowan.^[1]

Morphology

A strong verb of class II.^[5][6] Old High German has the past kou, plural kuwun, and the past participle gikuwan.^[5] Mailhammer counts it among the strong verbs of class II with an accepted Indo-European etymology.^[7]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English as ċēowan,^[1][6] in Old Saxon as kiuwan, glossing Latin masticare at the beginning of the 11th century,^[8] and in Old High German as kiuwan, from the end of the 8th century in glosses, in Otfrid and in Notker.^[5] Old Frisian and Old Dutch have no record of it.^[2] Wiktionary reconstructs Old Frisian *kiāwa and Old Dutch *kiuwan from the later languages,^[2] and Kroonen cites Middle Dutch couwen, cuwen.^[3]

Meanings

1. to chew^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to gnaw" and "to eat",^[6] and Old High German for "to crush, to consume, to destroy".^[5]

Derivatives

• *keuwā "jaw, gill" and *kauwā "jaw, gullet", which Wiktionary reconstructs from the verb.^[2]
• Kroonen takes Proto-Germanic *kaunō- "jaw", the source of Middle Dutch coon, for a formation derived from the verb,^[9] and Orel likewise derives *kaunan, *kaunō from it.^[10]

Reflexes

• Old English: ċēowan (“to chew, to gnaw, to eat”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: kiuwan (“to chew”)^[8]
• Old High German: kiuwan (“to chew, to crush, to consume, to destroy”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 173
2. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *keuwan
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 286
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 213
5. ^ a b c d e f 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. kiuwan
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. céowan
7. ^ Mailhammer, Robert (2007), The Germanic Strong Verbs: Foundations and Development of a New System, Trends in Linguistics 183, Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 216
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. kiuwan
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 282
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 211