*taikn

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *taikną (“sign”),^[3] which Kroonen cites by its stem *taikna- and Orel as *taiknan.^[4][5] The Proto-West Germanic loss of final *-ą left the *n standing between an obstruent and the end of the word, presumably as a syllabic consonant; such sonorants survived unchanged in Old English into the 8th century.^[1]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem.^[6][7] After a heavy syllable Old English varies between the form without a vowel and the form with an epenthetic one, tācn beside tācen.^[3]

Evidence

The word is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English tācn, Old Frisian tēken, Old Saxon tēkan and Old High German zeihhan.^[3] Old Dutch has teican and teikin in the Old Low and Middle Franconian Psalms of 901–1000, and zeychnen in Williram's commentary of 1100.^[8] Versloot contrasts German Zehe (“toe”), from Proto-Germanic *taihwō-, with Zeichen, from *taikn-, to show that *ai became a monophthong before h before the word-internal shift of k, which is dated to the 7th or 8th century.^[9]

Competing analyses

Kroonen takes Proto-Germanic *taikna- for a noun derived from a geminated root *taik(k)-, which is also behind Old English tǣcan (“to show”).^[4][10] He sets Gothic 𐍄𐌰𐌹𐌺𐌽𐍃 (taikns) apart as a ni-stem, *taikni-, beside the na-stem of Northwest Germanic.^[11] Orel, after Noreen, calls the noun a phonetically irregular derivative of the strong verb *tīxanan.^[5] Bammesberger finds no clear connection: a link with the root of the Gothic verb for "to announce" suggests itself, but it would require a by-form of the root with a voiced stop.^[12]

Meanings

1. sign^[1][2]

Old English also used the word for "miracle", "proof" and "banner",^[13] Old Saxon for "proof",^[7] and Old High German for "image", "miracle" and "constellation".^[14]

Derivatives

• *taiknijan "to show, to point", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[15] Ringe and Taylor trace Old English tǣcnan to Proto-Germanic *taiknijaną "to indicate, to signify", beside Old High German zeihhenen.^[16]
• *taiknōn "to show, to mark", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[17] Kroonen lists Old English tācnian, Old Frisian tēkna and Old High German zeihhonōn "to point out, to indicate".^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: tācen (“sign, miracle, proof, banner”)^[13]
• Old Frisian: tēken (“sign”)^[18]
• Old Saxon: tēkan (“sign, mark, proof”)^[7]
• Old Dutch: tēkan (“sign”)^[8]
• Old High German: zeihhan (“sign, image, miracle, constellation”)^[14]

References

1. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 48
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *taikn
3. ^ a b c Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 331
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 506
5. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 399
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. têkan
7. ^ a b c Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. tekan
8. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. tēkan
9. ^ Versloot, Arjen P. (2017), Proto-Germanic ai in North and West Germanic, Folia Linguistica Historica 38, 281–324
10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 505
11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 323
12. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 72
13. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tācen
14. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. zeihhan
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *taiknijan
16. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 310
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *taiknōn
18. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. tēken