*sleutan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs the infinitive *sleutan.^[1] EWA likewise sets up a West Germanic present stem *sleu̯t-e/a-.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sleutaną (“to bolt, to lock”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites as *sleutan- ~ *slūtan-, Orel as *sleutanan, Köbler as *sleutan and Seebold under the root SLEUT-A-.^[3][4][5][6]

Morphology

A strong verb of class II.^[2][7] The presents outside German have ⟨ū⟩, as in Old Frisian slūta, while Old High German sliozan has the diphthong.^[2]

Evidence

Kroonen and EWA list the verb in Old Frisian, Old Saxon, Old High German and the later continental languages, and give no Old English form.^[3][2] Old Saxon has only the dative plural ⟨utbislotenun⟩ of the past participle of ūtbislūtan (“to exclude”), glossing Latin ⟨seclusis⟩ in the Merseburg glosses.^[8][2] Old High German has the simple verb once, in a Bavarian gloss of the first third of the 9th century, for Latin ⟨devallare⟩ "to surround with a wall".^[2] Köbler also lists Old Frisian forms prefixed with bi-, und- and ūt-.^[7]

Competing analyses

Kroonen calls it a West Germanic word, parallel to *leukan- ~ *lūkan-, and holds that the meaning "to lock" developed from "to bar", in view of Middle English slot (“bar for a door, bolt”) and Old Frisian and Dutch slot (“lock”) from *sluta-.^[3] Orel asks whether it is a variant of *lūtanan.^[4] EWA traces the West Germanic stem to a pre-Proto-Germanic *sleu̯d-e/o-, which cannot be joined directly to any form outside Germanic.^[2] The older connection with Latin claudō (“to close”) under *(s)kleu̯d(h)- is difficult, since the Latin verb belongs with clāvis (“key, bar”) and so needs a pre-Italic *kleh₂u-d-.^[2] EWA still thinks a link possible: a zero-grade *skluh₂-d- beside *skleh₂u-d- would give *s(k)lūt- regularly, so that all the presents outside German would be regular, while pre-German would have replaced the *ū with the *eu usual in this verb class.^[2] Mailhammer counts the verb among the strong verbs with no Indo-European etymology,^[9] and Wiktionary calls its origin uncertain.^[10]

Meanings

1. to bolt, to lock^[1]
2. to close^[3][5]

Old Frisian also used the verb for "to decide, to agree",^[11] and the Old High German gloss means "to surround with a wall".^[2]

Derivatives

• *slutil "key", which Wiktionary reconstructs from the verb with *-il;^[12] Kroonen calls Proto-Germanic *slutila- an instrument noun derived from the strong verb, with Old Frisian sletel, Old Saxon slutil and Old High German sluzzil.^[13]
• *slot "bar, bolt", which Wiktionary derives from the verb through Proto-Germanic *slutą;^[14] Kroonen traces Old Frisian slot (“lock”) and Old High German sloz to *sluta-.^[3]

Reflexes

• Old Frisian: slūta (“to close, to lock, to shut in, to decide”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: ūtbislūtan (“to exclude”)^[8]
• Old High German: sliozan (“to surround with a wall, to enclose”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sleutan
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. sliozan
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. 454
4. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 350
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sleutan
6. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 436
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. slūta
8. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. ūtbislūtan
9. ^ 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. 217
10. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *sleutaną
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. slūta
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *slutil
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 455
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *slot