*sīhwan

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sīhwaną (“to filter, to strain”),^[1] which Kroonen cites by its stem *sīhwan-, Orel as *sīxwanan and Köbler as *seihwan, *sīhwan.^[3][4][5] Kroonen gives its original paradigm as *sīhwan-, past third singular *saihwe, third plural *siwume.^[6] EWA reconstructs Proto-Germanic *sīχu̯e/a-.^[7]

Morphology

A strong verb of class I.^[7][8] EWA gives the Old High German past singular ⟨sēh⟩ and the past participles ⟨siwan⟩, ⟨sigan⟩, ⟨sihan⟩, and the Old English past singular ⟨sāh⟩, plural ⟨sigon⟩, participle ⟨sigen⟩, ⟨siwen⟩, ⟨seowen⟩.^[7] The zero grade *sihw- of the root appears in the noun *sihhwā "sieve", whose velar was geminated by the following *w.^[9] Ringe and Taylor trace the verb through Old English *sīohan and ⟨sīon⟩ to ⟨sēon⟩.^[1]

Evidence

The verb is attested as Old English sēon, Old Frisian sīa and Old High German sīhan,^[1][10] the Old High German verb in glosses from the 8th century on.^[7] EWA also cites an Old Saxon sīhan with the present participle ⟨sīgende⟩, and Middle Dutch sien.^[7] For Old Frisian, Stiles notes that study of the corpus has found a past participle and two nouns derived from the verb, and he assigns to sīa "to seep or trickle" three third singular forms ⟨sith⟩ in the Emsigo Fines.^[11] He reports Buma's view that ⟨utsiona⟩, the plural of a West Frisian noun "outflow, watercourse", is also derived from it, which suggests that the verb could also mean "flow".^[11]

Competing analyses

Orel takes Proto-Germanic *sīʒ(w)anan "to sink" for a variant of the verb.^[4] EWA, following Seebold, rejects the frequent view that Old High German sīgan is its Verner's law variant, because that verb and its family everywhere continue a medial *-ǥ-.^[7]

Meanings

1. to filter, to strain^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to ooze, to trickle",^[3] and Old Frisian for "to trickle".^[10]

Derivatives

• *sihhwā "sieve", from the zero grade of the verb: Old English seohhe.^[9][12] Ringe and Taylor derive the post-Proto-West Germanic *sihtrā "sluice", Old English seohtre (“drain”), from the same verb.^[12]
• *saikijan "to make drip", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Kroonen takes Proto-Germanic *saikjan-, behind Old High German seihhen (“to piss”), to be apparently the causative of the verb, with its -k- from the iterative *sikkōn-.^[14]

Reflexes

• Old English: sēon (“to strain, to run, to trickle, to seep”)^[15]
• Old Frisian: sīa (“to strain, to trickle”)^[10]
• Old High German: sīhan (“to strain, to filter, to refine”)^[8]

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. 179
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sīhwan
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 435
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 329
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *seihwan
6. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 436
7. ^ 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. sîhan
8. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sīhan
9. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 49
10. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sīa
11. ^ a b Stiles, Patrick V (2007), The emergence of Old Frisian sīa* 'to seep, trickle', Us Wurk 56, 125–134, p. 127
12. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 178
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saikijan
14. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 421
15. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sīon