*skāp

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *skāp "sheep" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2] EWA writes the West Germanic form *skēpa-.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skēpą (“sheep”),^[2] which Kroonen cites as *skēpa-, Orel as *skēpan and Köbler as *skēpa- or *skǣpa-.^[4][5][6] In fully stressed syllables Proto-Germanic *ē was lowered and backed to *ā in Proto-Northwest Germanic,^[7] and Proto-West Germanic had this *ā in place of stressed *ē.^[8] In the northern dialects *skāp was fronted to *skǣp, the source of Old Frisian skēp, and then became *sċǣp and West Saxon sċēap, with Mercian and Kentish sċēp, while Old Saxon has skāp and Old High German skāf.^[9]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[3][10]

Evidence

The word is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English sċēap, Old Frisian skēp, Old Saxon skāp and Old High German scāf,^[1] and Old Dutch skāp, which ONW records first in the Old Low and Middle Franconian psalms of the 10th century.^[11] Old High German has it in glosses from the third quarter of the 8th century and in place names such as ⟨Scaphamma⟩, recorded in 890.^[3] Ringe and Taylor list it among the lexemes unique to West Germanic and more or less isolated etymologically.^[12] EWA notes that it has correspondences only in West Germanic, while Old Norse and Gothic name the sheep with other words.^[3]

Competing analyses

EWA finds no secure etymology and weighs two proposals:^[3] if the word is inherited, it may belong with an Indo-Aryan word for "goat", with a dissimilation of *k to *p in Germanic, as Eichner suggested; if it is a later formation, it may be derived from the verb *skaƀe/a- "to scrape", the sheep being named after its shearing, as Wood first proposed.^[3] Kroonen prefers the derivation from *skaban- "to shave, to shear", and takes Old High German scāpāri (“sheepskin”) to point to a form with *b.^[4] EWA reports that Ochs explained that word as a compound of *skāp- and *-gārja- formed before the High German consonant shift, while Krogmann objected that the Swabian word continuing it requires a short vowel.^[13] Orel instead calls the word of unknown origin, probably one of a group of wandering words for "he-goat" found in Albanian and Slavic and presumably spreading from Iranian.^[5] EWA finds Mackensen's derivation from a substrate language unconvincing.^[3]

Meanings

1. sheep^[1][2]

Reflexes

• Old English: sċēap (“sheep”)^[14]
• Old Frisian: skēp (“sheep”)^[15]
• Old Saxon: skāp (“sheep”)^[10]
• Old Dutch: skāp (“sheep”)^[11]
• Old High German: scāf (“sheep”)^[3]

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. 127
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *skāp
3. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. skâf
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 443
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 340
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *skēpa-
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 10
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 105
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 216
10. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. skāp
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. skāp
12. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 126–127
13. ^ 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. skâfhâri
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. scéap
15. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. skēp