*spōan

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *spōan "to succeed, to prosper" for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and EWA sets up West Germanic *spōi̯e/a- behind the Old High German verb.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *spōaną (“to succeed”),^[3][2] which Kroonen cites as *spōan-, Köbler as *spōan, *spōwan, and EWA as *spōe/a-.^[3][4][2] Kroonen reconstructs a strong verb *spōan- and takes the -w- of Old English spōwan for a hiatus filler.^[3] EWA likewise explains the Old English -w- as a secondary glide, and the *-i̯- of West Germanic *spōi̯e/a- as another, which moved the Old High German verb into the first weak class.^[2]

Morphology

Mailhammer classes the verb as reduplicating.^[5] It stayed strong only in Old English, with the past spēow, spēowon, while in Old High German and Middle Dutch it became weak.^[2] Old High German used it impersonally.^[2]

Evidence

The verb is attested as Old English spōwan^[6] and as Old High German spuoen, spuon, recorded about 1000.^[7] Middle Dutch has the weak verb spoen (“to strive for, to look after”).^[3][2] Wiktionary gives only reconstructed forms for Old Saxon and Old Dutch.^[1] North Germanic has a formation from the same verb, Old Norse spói (“curlew”), the bird being named for its fast run.^[2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes the *ō of the present for an o-grade of the root,^[3] while EWA takes it for a secondary *ō in place of *ē, carried over by analogy from the past.^[2]

Meanings

1. to succeed, to prosper^[1][3]

Old English also used the verb for "to be of use, to help",^[6] and Old High German for "to come off quickly, to overcome".^[2]

Derivatives

• *spōdi "success; speed", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[8] Kroonen calls Proto-Germanic *spōdi- a ti-stem made to the root of the verb,^[9] attested as Old English spēd and Old Saxon spōd.^[10][11]
• *spōdijan "to cause to succeed", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[12] Old Saxon has spōdian (“to further”) in the Genesis.^[13][14]
• *spādī "late": Kroonen calls Proto-Germanic *spēdi-, the source of Old High German spāti, an adjective derived from the verb.^[15]

Reflexes

• Old English: spōwan (“to succeed, to prosper, to be of use, to help”)^[6]
• Old High German: spuoen (“to succeed, to come off quickly”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *spōan
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. spuoen
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. 468
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *spōan
5. ^ 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. 226
6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. spōwan
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. spuon
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *spōdi
9. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 469
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. spœ̄d
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. spōd
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *spōdijan
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. spōdian
14. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. spōdian
15. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 466