*stain

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *stainaz (“stone”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *staina- and Orel as *stainaz.^[4][5] Ringe and Taylor derive the West Germanic form from the Proto-Germanic and Proto-Northwest Germanic accusative singular *stainą, which is recorded in early runic inscriptions: the loss of unstressed *a and *ą at the end of a word, a change found in all the West Germanic languages, made it *stain.^[6] They take this loss for a Proto-West Germanic change, because several other changes common to all of West Germanic followed it.^[1]

Morphology

A masculine a-stem.^[7][8] The loss of final *a and *ą fell most heavily on the endings of the a-stems in the nominative and accusative singular, so that *stain was left without an ending.^[1]

Evidence

The word is found in all the West Germanic languages: Old English stān, Old Frisian stēn, Old Saxon stēn and Old High German stein.^[1] Old Dutch has it as stein in the Psalms of the 9th century and in Williram's commentary on the Song of Songs of about 1100.^[9][10] Versloot notes that the diphthong had become a monophthong before the first records of Old English in the 7th century, and that the earliest Old Saxon, Old Dutch and Old Frisian have stēn, while Old High German, like Old Norse, kept the diphthong, and Old Dutch did so to a lesser degree.^[11]

Meanings

1. stone^[1][2]

Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German also used the word for "rock",^[12][7][13] and Old High German also for "gem".^[13]

Derivatives

• *stainīn "made of stone", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[14] Ringe and Taylor trace Old English stǣnen to Proto-Germanic *stainīnaz "(made) of stone", beside Old High German steinīn.^[15]
• *hwattjastain "whetstone", which Wiktionary reconstructs from compounds such as Old English hwetestān;^[16] Old Saxon has the compound too.^[7]

Reflexes

• Old English: stān (“stone, rock”)^[12]
• Old Frisian: stēn (“stone”)^[17]
• Old Saxon: stēn (“stone, rock”)^[18]
• Old Dutch: stein (“stone”)^[10]
• Old High German: stein (“stone, rock, boulder, cliff, gem”)^[13]

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. 45
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stain
3. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 170
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 472
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 369
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 44–45
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stên
8. ^ 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. stein
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stein
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. stēn
11. ^ Versloot, Arjen P. (2017), Proto-Germanic ai in North and West Germanic, Folia Linguistica Historica 38, 281–324, p. 281
12. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. stān
13. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stein
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stainīn
15. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 234
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hwattjastain
17. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. stēn
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 379