*slāpan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *slāpan for Proto-West Germanic,^[1][2] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *slēpaną (“to sleep”),^[1] which Kroonen cites by its stem *slēpan-, Orel as *slēpanan and Köbler as *slēpan, *slǣpan.^[4][5][6] In fully stressed syllables Proto-Germanic *ē was lowered and backed to *ā in Proto-Northwest Germanic, so that *slēpaną became *slāpaną, the source of Old English slǣpan, Old Frisian slēpa, Old Saxon slāpan and Old High German slāfan.^[7] Ringe and Taylor set the West Germanic form down as *slāpan, beside Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌴𐍀𐌰𐌽 (slēpan).^[1][8]

Morphology

A reduplicating strong verb, of class VII.^[9][10][11] Mailhammer lists it among the reduplicating verbs without an Indo-European etymology.^[12]

Evidence

The verb is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English, Old Frisian, Old Saxon and Old High German,^[13] and Old Dutch, where ONW records the past ⟨sclip⟩ "I slept" in the Old Low Franconian psalms of the 10th century and the subjunctive ⟨slaaphe⟩ in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[14] EWA has the Old High German verb in glosses from about 800 on.^[15] In Old English the long *ā was fronted to ǣ in West Saxon and fronted and raised to ē in Kentish and Anglian, giving West Saxon slǣpan beside Mercian slēpan; the Old Frisian outcome, slēpa, is written ē too.^[1] West Saxon *ǣ was later retracted before a single consonant followed by a back vowel, which explains West Saxon slāpan beside slǣpan.^[2]

Competing analyses

The origin of the Proto-Germanic verb is unclear.^[8][12] Kroonen takes *slēpan- for a reduplicated verb created to the iterative *slapp/bōn-, in the same way as he explains *tēkan- "to touch".^[4][16] Orel relates the verb to Baltic and Slavic words meaning "weak".^[5]

Meanings

1. to sleep^[1][3]

Old English also used the verb for "to be numb, to be motionless, to be dead",^[17] and Old High German for "to fall asleep" and "to sleep with someone".^[15]

Derivatives

• *slāpul "sleepy": Old English slāpol, Old High German slāfal.^[2] Wiktionary analyses it as *slāpan with the suffix *-ul.^[18]
• *slāp "sleep", from Proto-Germanic *slēpaz: Old Frisian slēp, Old Saxon slāp, Old High German slāf, and Old English slǣp.^[2] Orel relates *slēpaz to the verb.^[5]
• Köbler reconstructs Proto-Germanic *uzslēpan (“to pass away”), behind Old English āslǣpan and Old Saxon āslāpan.^[19]

Reflexes

• Old English: slǣpan (“to sleep, to be numb, to be dead”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: slēpa (“to sleep”)^[20]
• Old Saxon: slāpan (“to sleep”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: slāpan (“to sleep”)^[14]
• Old High German: slāfan (“to sleep, to fall asleep”)^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 149
2. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 199
3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *slāpan
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 453
5. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 350
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *slēpan
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 10–11
8. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *slēpaną
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. slāpan
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. slāpan
11. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. slepa
12. ^ a b Mailhammer, Robert (2007), The Germanic Strong Verbs: Foundations and Development of a New System, Trends in Linguistics 183, Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 225
13. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 11
14. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. slāpan
15. ^ a b c 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. slâfan
16. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 507
17. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. slǣpan
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *slāpul
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *uzslēpan
20. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. slēpa