*stebnu

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *stebnō (“voice”),^[1] which Orel writes *steƀnō and Köbler *stemnō, *stebnō.^[3][4] Kroonen takes the Proto-Germanic word for a stem in *-nō- that continues an older ablauting n-stem, in which the cluster *-mn- usually became *-bn-: the Gothic word continues *stebnō- or *stibnō-, Old High German stimma is built on the old genitive, and stimna on a later remaking.^[5] EWA likewise explains the different forms of the daughters by a change *-mn- > *-ƀn-, partly undone later, which happened before *e became *i.^[6] Boutkan and Siebinga take the forms with ⟨mm⟩ to reflect *-mn- restored from the oblique cases of the earlier n-stem.^[7]

Morphology

A feminine noun, an ō-stem in Old English and Old Frisian;^[8][9] the Old High German word shows the stems in *-ō-, *-ōn- and *-jō-.^[6]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages, some with ⟨b⟩ or ⟨f⟩ and some with ⟨m⟩: Old Frisian stifne beside stemme, Old Saxon stemna and Old High German stimna.^[1] Old English has the oldest form stebn in the Corpus Glossary, which became stefn and then stemn; after the light root syllable, as usually, no vowel was inserted before the final ⟨n⟩.^[1] Old High German has the word from the end of the 8th century.^[6] In Old Dutch the Wachtendonck Psalms of 901–1000 have the plural stemmen, and Williram's commentary of about 1100 has stemma.^[10]

Competing analyses

Casaretto reports that the forms with *-bn- are mostly held to be secondary, dissimilated from *-mn-, and rejects Wilmanns's view that *stebnō was the original form.^[11] The further origin of the word is disputed: Kroonen and Boutkan and Siebinga connect Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma, “mouth”),^[5][7] which Casaretto rejects because of the e-grade of the Germanic word,^[11] and Orel calls it of unknown origin.^[3]

Meanings

1. voice^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "sound",^[8] Old Frisian for "right to vote" and "person entitled to vote",^[12] and Old High German for "sound, speech, word".^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: stefn (“voice, sound”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: stemme (“voice, right to vote”), stifne^[12]
• Old Saxon: stemna (“voice”)^[13]
• Old Dutch: stemma (“voice”)^[10]
• Old High German: stimna (“voice, sound, speech, word”)^[6]

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. 330
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *stebnu
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 373
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *stemnō
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. §2.2.5.4
6. ^ a b c d e 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. stimna
7. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. stifne
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stėfn
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stemme
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. stimma
11. ^ a b Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. stibna
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. stemme
13. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. stemna