*mōtan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the preterite-present *mōtan "to be allowed, may".^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *mōtaną (“to be allowed”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *mōtan- and Boutkan and Siebinga as *mōtanaN.^[2][4] EWA reconstructs a preterite-present *mōt, plural *mōtum, past *mōstōn, for Proto-Germanic.^[5]

Morphology

A preterite-present verb.^[6][5] Ringe and Taylor count the second singular *mōst "you may", analysable as *mōt + *-st, among the preterite-present forms through which Proto-West Germanic inherited a second singular ending *-st in the present indicative.^[7] Well after Proto-West Germanic had begun to break up, this ending spread to the preterite-presents with roots ending in *n, as in Old English canst and Old Saxon kanst.^[8] The infinitive is not recorded in Old English, Old Frisian or Old High German; the past is Old English mōsta and Old High German muosa, late muosta.^[5]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English mōtan, Old Frisian mōta, Old Saxon mōtan and Old High German muozan.^[2][9][10] Old Saxon has it in the Heliand and the Genesis.^[6] The Old Saxon noun mōta (“leisure”) and Old High German muoza (“leisure, free time, opportunity”) belong with it, according to Holthausen.^[11]

Meanings

1. to be allowed, may^[1][6]

Kroonen glosses the Proto-Germanic verb, with a query, as "to approach, to concede to".^[2] EWA notes that the basic meaning "freely measured space" required by the usual derivation cannot be shown, and finds words in other Indo-European languages closer to the meaning "to find room" seen in Gothic.^[5] In the daughters the verb also meant "can" and "must" in Old English,^[9] "shall", "can" and "must" in Old Frisian,^[10] and "to be able to" and "to have to" in Old High German.^[5]

Derivatives

• Köbler traces Old Saxon mōta to a Proto-Germanic noun *mōtō-, *mōtōn "leisure, opportunity".^[12] De Vaan considers reconstructing a noun *mōtō- "portion, slice", derived from *mōtan- "to find room, to be allowed", behind Dutch moot.^[13]

Reflexes

• Old English: mōtan (“to be allowed, can, must”)^[9]
• Old Frisian: mōta (“to be allowed, shall, can, may, must”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: mōtan (“to be allowed, may”)^[6]
• Old High German: muozan (“to be able to, to be allowed to, to have to”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōtan
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 372
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōtan
4. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. mota
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. muozan
6. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōtan
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 354
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 101
9. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōtan
10. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōta
11. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōtan
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōta
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 496