*saiwi

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *saiwi "body of water: lake, sea, ocean" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] It continues inherited from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz (“sea”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *saiwi- and Orel as *saiwiz.^[3][4] Ringe and Taylor trace Old English sǣ from Proto-Germanic *saiwiz through *sāwi and *sǣi, with *ā from West Germanic *ai and its umlaut ⟨ǣ⟩.^[2][5] Versloot notes that Old High German has ⟨ē⟩ rather than ⟨ei⟩ before ⟨r⟩, ⟨h⟩ and ⟨w⟩, as in the word for "sea" from *saiwi-.^[6]

Morphology

A masculine noun.^[7][8] Kroonen takes the Proto-Germanic word for an i-stem that became an a-stem in Northwest Germanic.^[3] Old High German mostly inflects it as a wa-stem, but forms such as the instrumental singular ⟨seuuiu⟩, the nominative plural ⟨sêwi⟩ and the dative plural ⟨sêwim⟩ point to an older i-stem inflection, and the umlaut of Old English sǣ points the same way.^[8] Hogg and Fulk count Old English sǣ among the original i-stems; it is also masculine, chiefly in Anglian and in poetry.^[9] In Old Dutch the loss of final *-w gave an alternation between a nominative and accusative in ⟨-ē⟩ and oblique forms in ⟨-ēw-⟩, as in sēo, genitive ⟨seuues⟩.^[10]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English sǣ, Old Frisian sē, Old Saxon sēo, Old Dutch sēo and Old High German sēo.^[8] Old Saxon has it in the Heliand, as ⟨seo⟩ and ⟨seu⟩,^[7] Old Dutch in psalms that Köbler dates to the 9th century,^[11] and Old High German in glosses from the third quarter of the 8th century.^[12]

Meanings

1. lake, sea^[1][3]

Old English also used the word for "marsh",^[13] and Old High German for "pond" and other waters.^[8] EWA notes that the split of German into masculine See "inland lake" and feminine See "sea" arose only in New High German.^[8]

Derivatives

• *saiwilīk "maritime, marine", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[14] Old English has sǣlic (“of the sea”)^[15] and Old High German sēolīh (“of the sea, by the sea”).^[16]

Reflexes

• Old English: sǣ (“sea, lake, marsh”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: sē (“sea”)^[17]
• Old Saxon: sēo (“lake, sea”)^[18]
• Old Dutch: sēo (“sea”)^[19]
• Old High German: sēo (“lake, sea, pond”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saiwi
2. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 234
3. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 423
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 314
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 259
6. ^ Versloot, Arjen P. (2017), Proto-Germanic ai in North and West Germanic, Folia Linguistica Historica 38, 281–324
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sêo
8. ^ 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. sêo
9. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2018), Historical Development of Dutch: Phonology & Morphology, Dialects & Stages, course reader, Leiden Summer School in Languages and Linguistics
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sēo
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sēo
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sǣ
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saiwilīk
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sǣlic
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sēolīh
17. ^ Bremmer, Rolf H., Jr. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 209
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 342
19. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. sēo