*līstā

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *līstā "edge, hem, border" for Proto-West Germanic, names no Proto-Germanic ancestor and calls the origin uncertain.^[1]

Etymology

The Proto-Germanic source is a weak feminine, inherited from Proto-Germanic *līstōn (“ledge”) in Köbler's spelling, who also writes *leistōn;^[2] Orel writes *lī̆stōn and EWA *lei̯stō(n)-.^[3][4] LÄGLOS sets up *leistōn-, later *listōn-.^[5]

Morphology

A feminine n-stem.^[6][4] Old High German has it only in the nominative singular.^[4]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English līste, Old Saxon līsta (“hem, drawstring of a net”) and Old High German līsta, the last from the 10th century in glosses.^[4] For Old Dutch, ONW and EWA set up Old Dutch līsta on the evidence of Old French lice (“barrier, enclosure”).^[7][4] Wiktionary gives Old Frisian forms only as reconstructions.^[1] Gamillscheg derives liste (“hem, band”), recorded from the 12th century, from Frankish *lista (“strip”).^[8] EWA lists Lombardic līsta (“strip, border”),^[4] and Köbler a Latin-Lombard ⟨lista⟩ from before 906.^[9] EWA adds that the Germanic word passed into Romance, as Medieval Latin lista, French liste and Italian, Spanish and Portuguese lista, and that the commercial sense "list" came back from Romance into German, Dutch, West Frisian and English.^[4]

Competing analyses

Orel lists Old Norse lista (“edge”) among the reflexes,^[3] and LÄGLOS sets up a Proto-Norse *listō behind Finnish liiste (“lath, strip”), though it asks whether the Old Norse and Old Swedish words might be loans from Old Saxon or Middle Low German.^[5] EWA takes all the North Germanic forms for loans from Middle Low German.^[4] Orel relates the word to Proto-Germanic *laistiz ~ *laistaz,^[3] and Wiktionary likewise considers a link with *laist (“track, trace; footprint”);^[1] EWA finds no secure etymology.^[4]

Meanings

1. edge, hem, border^[1]

Old English also used the word for "fringe",^[10] and Old High German for "trimming" and "strip of parchment".^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: līste (“ledge, edge, fringe”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: līsta (“ledge, strip, edge, hem”)^[11]
• Old Dutch: līsta (“barrier”)^[7]
• Old High German: līsta (“hem, border, trimming, strip”)^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *līstā
2. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *leistōn
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 248
4. ^ 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. lîsta
5. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 206
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. līste
7. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. līsta
8. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 609
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lista
10. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. liste
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *līsta