*tredan

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *tredan for Proto-West Germanic,^[1] and Wiktionary and Köbler have the same form.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *trudaną (“to tread, to step on”),^[4] which Kroonen cites as *tredan- ~ *trudan- and Orel as *truđanan.^[5][6] Ringe and Taylor count the Proto-West Germanic verb among a few regularizations of single strong verb paradigms: the Proto-Germanic present had the zero grade, and *tredan took the default vowel of the present stem, as *knudaną "to knead" became *knedan.^[1]

Morphology

A strong verb of class V.^[7][8] In Old English, back umlaut gave Mercian bi-, for-treodan beside West Saxon tredan.^[4]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old English tredan and Old High German tretan,^[4] in Old Frisian treda,^[9] and in Old Dutch tredan, whose past forms trat and tradun ONW records in the Old Franconian psalms of the 10th century.^[10] For Old Saxon, Köbler sets up *tredan only with a question mark.^[11] Gothic and Old Norse kept the zero grade: Gothic 𐍄𐍂𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽 (trudan), Old Norse troða.^[4]

Competing analyses

Stiles lists *tredan, against Gothic and North Germanic *truđan, among the obscure or new formations that the West Germanic languages share; he takes these shared isoglosses as proof of a period of common West Germanic development, whether or not the branch was originally a unit.^[12] Kroonen treats the alternation *tredan- ~ *trudan- as old, an "aorist present" with a paradigm like that of *knedan- ~ *knudan-.^[13][5] Orel instead sets up a separate Proto-Germanic *tređanan for the West Germanic and Norwegian forms, which he takes, after Meillet, for a secondary remaking of *truđanan with a thematic e-grade.^[14]

Meanings

1. to tread^[2][3]

Old English also used the verb for "to trample", "to pass through" and "to cross",^[15] Old High German for "to trample", "to oppress" and "to crush",^[8] and Old Frisian used it in a phrase meaning "to come into possession".^[9]

Derivatives

• *fratredan "to tread upon, to trample", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[16] Köbler lists the prefixed verb as Old English fortredan and Old High German firtretan.^[17]
• *trettōn "to tread, to trample", which Wiktionary reconstructs with the -e- of the strong verb in place of the zero grade;^[18] Kroonen takes the Proto-Germanic weak verb, continued by Middle Dutch tredden, for the iterative of *tredan- ~ *trudan-.^[19]

Reflexes

• Old English: tredan (“to tread, to trample, to pass through”)^[15]
• Old Frisian: treda (“to tread”)^[9]
• Old Dutch: tredan (“to tread, to trample”)^[10][3]
• Old High German: tretan (“to tread, to trample, to oppress”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 78
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *tredan
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tredan
4. ^ a b c d Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 325
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 521
6. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 410
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tredan
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. tretan
9. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. treda
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. tredan
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *tredan?
12. ^ Stiles, Patrick V. (2013), The Pan-West Germanic isoglosses and the subrelationships of West Germanic to other branches, NOWELE 66/1, 5–38, p. §5.1
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 295
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 409
15. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. tredan
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fratredan
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fartrudan
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *trettōn
19. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 522