*saku

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sakō (“case, lawsuit”),^[3][4] whose Northwest Germanic nominative and genitive Ringe and Taylor give as *saku, *sakōz.^[5] Kroonen and Orel derive the Proto-Germanic noun from the strong verb *sakan- or *sakanan,^[3][4] and Wiktionary analyses the West Germanic form as *sakan "to quarrel" with the ending *-u.^[2]

Morphology

A feminine ō-stem.^[6][7] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the nominative *saku and genitive *sakā, which became *sæku, *sækǣ and then Old English sacu, genitive sæce or sace.^[5] After a light stressed syllable the final *-u of the nominative was not lost in Old English; in Old Saxon and Old High German the ō-stem nominative was mostly replaced by the accusative.^[8]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English sacu, Old Frisian seke, Old Saxon saka, Old Dutch saka and Old High German sahha.^[9][3] Old Saxon has it in the Heliand,^[6] and Old Dutch in the psalms of the 10th century.^[10]

Meanings

1. conflict, lawsuit^[1]
2. accusation, charge^[5][2]
3. case^[2]

Ringe and Taylor trace a development from "conflict, lawsuit" to Old High German sahha "grounds for a suit, matter" and on to the modern sense "business, matter, thing", parallel to that of Latin causa (“court case, affair”) in French chose (“thing”).^[1] Old English also used the word for "war, persecution, sin",^[7] and Old Frisian for "matter, cause, feud".^[11]

Derivatives

• *sakōn "to blame, to dispute", which Wiktionary reconstructs from Proto-Germanic *sakōną, formed from *sakō.^[12]
• Orel derives Proto-Germanic *sakjō(n) "dispute", behind Old English sæcc (“strife, contest”) and Old High German secka (“strife”), from *sakō.^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: sacu (“strife, war, persecution, lawsuit, sin”)^[7]
• Old Frisian: seke (“dispute, lawsuit, matter, cause, feud”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: saka (“matter, dispute, quarrel”)^[13]
• Old Dutch: saka (“matter, cause”)^[14]
• Old High German: sahha (“matter, thing, cause, accusation, lawsuit, guilt”)^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 128
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saku
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 424
4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 315
5. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 195
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. saka
7. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sacu
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 288
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sacu
10. ^ Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. saka
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. seke
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sakōn
13. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 332
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. saka
15. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sahha