*skuldi

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *skuldi for Proto-West Germanic.^[1] Ringe and Taylor cite the word at the Proto-Germanic level, as *skuldi- ~ *skulþi- "debt".^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skuldiz (“obligation, debt, guilt”),^[1][3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *skuldi-, Orel as *skulđiz and Köbler as *skuldi-, *skuldiz.^[3][4][5] Ringe and Taylor call it a derivative of *skulaną "to owe",^[2] Kroonen a ti-stem to the root of *skulan-,^[3] and EWA a zero-grade verbal abstract with the suffix *-ti- to the verb continued by Old High German skulan.^[6] Stressed *u was not lowered to *o in Northwest Germanic when a high vowel followed, as in the ending of this noun, and the Old English form sċyld shows i-umlaut.^[2]

Morphology

A feminine i-stem.^[3][6][7] Schaffner counts it among the feminine i-stems with grammatical alternation inside the paradigm: Old High German sculd continues *skulþi- and Old Norse skuld continues *skuldi-, while the Old English, Old Saxon and Old Frisian forms cannot show which consonant they had, because these languages merged *þ and *d after *l.^[8]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English sċyld "debt, guilt", Old Frisian skeld, Old Saxon skuld and Old High German skuld "duty, guilt".^[2] De Vaan finds the earliest nominative-accusative attested in Old Dutch in the 10th-century gloss ⟨cogskuld⟩ "tax on land outside the dykes".^[9] In Old Dutch the loss of *-i left a nominative *skuld beside an oblique stem *skuldi-, which by regular sound change gave Late Old Dutch *skoud beside *sküld-; both variants survive in Middle Dutch.^[9] ONW records the plural ⟨sculde⟩ in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible of 1151–1200.^[10] EWA finds the Old High German word in the Abrogans and in many other glosses and texts.^[6]

Competing analyses

Ringe and Taylor set up the Proto-Germanic word with both *skuldi- and *skulþi-,^[2] and Schaffner likewise reconstructs *skulþi- : *skuldi-, following Klingenschmitt, who posits a nominative *skulþiz beside a genitive *skuldiz.^[8] Kroonen, Orel and EWA give only the form with *d.^[3][4][6]

Meanings

1. debt^[2][1]
2. obligation^[1]
3. fault, guilt^[3][1]

Old Saxon also used the word for "tax",^[7] Old Frisian for a payment one is bound to make,^[11] and Old High German for "sin, crime" and "cause".^[6]

Derivatives

• *skuldihaitijō "deputy, bailiff": Old Frisian skeltāta, Old High German sculdheiʒo and Old English sċyldhǣta.^[12] Ringe and Taylor think this compound may have been fossilized to the point where it was no longer felt as a compound.^[13] Old Saxon has skuldhētio.^[14]
• *skuldōn "to owe" and *skuldijan "to accuse", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[1] Orel lists denominal weak verbs such as Old Frisian urskelda (“to forfeit”) and Old High German sculdōn (“to accuse”).^[4]
• Boutkan and Siebinga set up beside it a Proto-Germanic adjective *skuldiga- "guilty", continued by Old English scyldig, Old Saxon sculdig and Old High German sculdīg.^[15]

Reflexes

• Old English: sċyld (“guilt, debt”)^[16]
• Old Frisian: skelde (“payment owed, debt, guilt”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: skuld (“debt”)^[17]
• Old Dutch: skult (“moral or financial obligation”)^[10]
• Old High German: skuld (“guilt, sin, crime, debt, duty”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *skuldi
2. ^ 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. 30
3. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 450
4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 345
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *skuldi-
6. ^ 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. skuld
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. skuld
8. ^ a b Schaffner, Stefan (2001), Das Vernersche Gesetz und der innerparadigmatische grammatische Wechsel des Urgermanischen im Nominalbereich, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 103, Innsbruck
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 321
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. skult
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. skelde
12. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 235
13. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 267
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. skuldhêtio
15. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. skelde
16. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. scyld
17. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 363