*leuþ

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *leuþą (“song”), which EWA reconstructs as *leu̯þa-, Köbler as *leuþa- and Orel as *leuþan.^[3][4][5] In Old English the diphthong became ⟨ēo⟩: lēoþ.^[1]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[3][6] Gothic has the noun only as the second part of a compound meaning "thanks", which continues the Verner variant *-leu̯đa-;^[3] EWA puts the alternation down to a different place of the stress in the simple word and the compound.^[3]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English lēoþ and Old High German liod.^[1] Old Saxon has it only in the compound Old Saxon winilioth (“profane song”), which glosses Latin phrases for a popular or secular psalmus (“psalm”) in the 11th century.^[7][3] EWA lists no Old Frisian or Old Dutch form; early Middle Dutch has liet from 1240.^[3] In Old High German it is found in the Abrogans and other glosses and in Otfrid.^[3]

Competing analyses

EWA finds no exact match outside Germanic; at most the word may be connected with Latin laus (“praise”), which is close in meaning,^[3] and Orel too thinks it perhaps distantly related to it.^[5] Wiktionary calls the origin unclear.^[8]

Meanings

1. song^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "poem",^[6] and Old High German for "song of praise" and "hymn".^[3]

Derivatives

• *leuþōn "to sing, to make verses", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[9] Orel lists Old English lēoþian and Old High German liudōn under Proto-Germanic *leuþōjanan.^[5]

Reflexes

• Old English: lēoþ (“song, poem”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: winilioth (“profane song”)^[7]
• Old High German: liod (“song, song of praise, hymn”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 174
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *leuþ
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. liod
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *leuþa-
5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 243
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. lēoþ
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. winilioth
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *leuþą
9. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *leuþōn