*sittjan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *sittjan for Proto-West Germanic, phonetically *[sittjan] and underlyingly */sitjan/,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sitjaną (“to sit”),^[1][3] which Orel cites as *setjanan, Kroonen as *set(j)an- and Köbler as *setjan, *sitjan.^[4]^(Kroonen 2013|s.v. *set(j)an-)^[5] The geminate is due to the Proto-West Germanic gemination of most consonants before *j, a change that followed the loss of final *-ą and *-az and affected scores of words.^[6] Ringe and Taylor take the gemination to have been at first a surface rule of pronunciation, perhaps for some generations, with no evidence that the underlying forms changed quickly.^[1]

Morphology

A strong verb of class V.^[7][8] Already in Proto-Germanic it was one of the strong presents in *-j-, and the *j raised the root vowel to *i throughout the present stem, as against *etaną "to eat".^[9][3] Ringe and Taylor trace the Old English second and third singular sitst, sitt to Proto-Germanic *sitisi, *sitiþi, forms without *j.^[10] Old High German has the past singular and plural and the past participle saz, sāzun, gisezzan.^[8]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English sittan, Old Frisian sitta, Old Saxon sittian and Old High German sizzen,^[1] and Old Dutch sitten, recorded in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century.^[11] Old High German has it from the 8th century.^[8]

Competing analyses

Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐍄𐌰𐌽 (sitan) has no *-j- in the present.^[4][12] EWA allows that it continues a present without the suffix or is a later analogical form.^[8]

Meanings

1. to sit^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to sit down", "to remain", "to dwell" and "to besiege",^[13] Old Frisian for "to stay" and "to dwell",^[14] and Old High German for "to be enthroned" and "to dwell".^[15]

Derivatives

• *bisittjan "to sit by" and *gasittjan "to sit down", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[16][17] Old Saxon has bisittian (“to besiege”) and gisittian (“to sit, to sit down”).^[18]
• The causative *sattjan "to set", from Proto-Germanic *satjaną, with the same gemination: Old English settan, Old Frisian setta, Old Saxon settian, Old High German sezzen.^[1][8]

Reflexes

• Old English: sittan (“to sit, to sit down, to remain, to dwell, to besiege, to preside”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: sitta (“to sit, to stay, to dwell, to remain”)^[14]
• Old Saxon: sittian (“to sit, to be situated, to sit down, to dwell”)^[19]
• Old Dutch: sitten (“to sit”)^[11]
• Old High German: sizzen (“to sit, to be enthroned, to dwell, to stay”)^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 51
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sittjan
3. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 249
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 325
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *setjan, *sitjan
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 50
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sittian
8. ^ a b c d e 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. sizzen
9. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 207
10. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 295
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. sitten
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sitjaną
13. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sittan
14. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. sitta
15. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sizzen
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *bisittjan
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *gasittjan
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 351
19. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. sittian