*swōtī

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *swōtī for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary has the same form.^[2] It continues the u-stem adjective inherited from Proto-Germanic *swōtuz (“sweet, pleasant”),^[1] which Kroonen cites by its stem *swōtu- and Orel as *swōtuz.^[3][4] Kroonen notes that most of the Northwest Germanic languages point to a ja-stem *swōtja-, which replaced the u-stem at a relatively late stage, and that Old English swōt, for instance, shows no umlaut.^[3] Köbler sets up both *swōtu- and *swōtja-.^[5] EWA puts the change of stem down to the feminine nominative singular *su̯ōtui̯ō-, in which the sequence *-ui̯ō- regularly became *-ii̯ō-,^[6] and Wiktionary analyses the West Germanic form as *swōtuz with an adjective suffix *-ī.^[2] In Old English the *ō was fronted by i-umlaut, *swōtī becoming *swœ̄tī, whence Northumbrian ⟨swœ̄te⟩ and West Saxon swēte.^[1]

Morphology

An adjective;^[1] Köbler classes the Old English adjective as a ja-stem.^[7]

Evidence

The adjective is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English swēte, Old Frisian swēte, Old Saxon swōti and Old High German suozi,^[1] and Old Dutch suoti in psalm glosses that Köbler dates to the 9th century.^[8] Old High German has it from the end of the 8th century, in glosses and in texts such as Otfrid and Notker.^[6] De Vaan takes ⟨Suetan⟩, recorded in the 10th century as the name of a place near Leiden, to stand for an Old Frisian form of the adjective, with the i-mutation and loss of rounding of Old Frisian; the later name Zoeterwoude is a conscious translation of it into Franconian.^[9] The name first belonged to a tributary of the Old Rhine a little upstream from the later city of Leiden.^[10]

Meanings

1. sweet^[2]

Old English also used the adjective for "pleasant, pure, fragrant",^[7] Old Frisian for "melodious" and, as an adverb, "kindly",^[11] Old Saxon for "pleasant, lovely",^[12] and Old High German for "pleasant, mild, delicious, holy" among other senses.^[6]

Derivatives

• *swōtijan "to sweeten", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] Köbler sets up Proto-Germanic *swōtjan for Old English swētan and Old High German swuozen.^[14]
• *swōtinassī "sweetness", which Wiktionary reconstructs with the suffix *-nassī, behind Old English swētnes.^[15]
• Orel derives a Proto-Germanic feminine *swōtīn "sweetness" from the adjective;^[4] the feminine īn-stem Old High German suozī (“sweetness”) continues it,^[16] and Old Dutch suoti (“sweetness”) is recorded in psalm glosses.^[8]

Reflexes

• Old English: swēte (“sweet, pleasant, pure, fragrant”),^[7] swōt (“sweet”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: swēte (“sweet, melodious, kindly”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: swōti (“sweet, pleasant, lovely”)^[12]
• Old Dutch: suoti (“sweet”)^[8]
• Old High German: suozi (“sweet, pleasant, mild, delicious”)^[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. 227
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *swōtī
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 503
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 398
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *swōtu-
6. ^ a b c d 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. suozi
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swœ̄te
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. suoti
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 58
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 447
11. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. swēte
12. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swōti
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *swōtijan
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *swōtjan
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *swōtinassī
16. ^ 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. suozî
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. swōt