*langasam

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *langasam for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2] EWA sets up West Germanic *langa-sama- or *langa-suma-.^[3]

Etymology

It is formed from Proto-West Germanic *lang (“long”) + *-sam, a derivative of the adjective with the semi-suffix that also gives Old High German langsam.^[3][2] Ringe and Taylor explain that an element *-sama- "same" became an adjective-forming suffix so early that the process can no longer be reconstructed, and they give *langasam as one of its Proto-West Germanic examples, beside Proto-Germanic *lustusamaz and Proto-Northwest Germanic *friþusamaz.^[1]

Morphology

An adjective.^[1][4] Old Saxon has a comparative, recorded in the Heliand.^[4]

Evidence

The adjective is attested in Old English langsum, Old Saxon langsam and Old High German langsam.^[1] Old Saxon has it about a dozen times in the Heliand,^[4] and Old High German from glosses of the end of the 8th or the beginning of the 9th century.^[3] EWA holds that the Danish, Norwegian and Swedish adjectives were taken from Middle Low German, so that the word is native only in West Germanic.^[3]

Meanings

1. long-lasting^[1][2]

Old English used the adjective for "protracted, tedious",^[1] Old Saxon for "enduring, everlasting",^[5] and Old High German for "long, long-lasting, extended, tedious, prolix".^[3] EWA puts the later German sense "slow" down to the influence of a similar Middle High German adjective meaning "hesitant, slow".^[3]

Reflexes

• Old English: langsum (“long, long-lasting, long-suffering”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: langsam (“enduring, everlasting”)^[5]
• Old High German: langsam (“long, long-lasting, extended, tedious”)^[3]

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. 521
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *langasam
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. langsam
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. langsam
5. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. langsam
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. langsum