*watar

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *watōr (“water”),^[3][4] while Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (wato) has generalized the n-stem.^[3] Kroonen reconstructs the Proto-Germanic paradigm as *watōr, genitive *watenaz.^[4] Ringe and Taylor derive *watar through *watār: bimoric *ō was unrounded to *ā in final syllables, a West Germanic change, since Early Runic still writes these vowels with the o-rune.^[5] Later, vowels were shortened before word-final *-r in unaccented syllables, after Stiles; the outcome of "four", and perhaps of "water", shows that this shortening followed the unrounding.^[6]

Morphology

An inherited neuter r/n-stem, much remodelled in Proto-West Germanic; in the daughters it is inflected as a neuter a-stem, and Ringe and Taylor allow that this may already have been so in Proto-West Germanic.^[1] They reconstruct the genitive *wataras, the dative *watarē,^[7] and the plural *wataru.^[8] Hogg and Fulk note that the stem was originally of two syllables, and that the West Germanic paradigm was built on the stem in *-ar- rather than *-n-, while Old Norse vatn is built on the stem in -n-.^[9]

Evidence

The noun is attested in all the West Germanic languages: Old English wæter, Old Frisian weter, Old Saxon watar, also water, and Old High German waʒʒar.^[6] In Old Dutch, Köbler records ⟨uuatar⟩ in the Old Franconian psalms,^[10] and ONW has ⟨wazzar⟩ in Williram's commentary of 1100 and ⟨wet[er]⟩ in the Groningen psalm glosses of 1151–1175.^[11]

Meanings

1. water^[3][2]

Old Frisian also used the word for a body of water.^[12]

Derivatives

• *watarweg "waterway", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[13] it is attested as Old English wæterweg (“watercourse”).^[14]
• *watarhōn "waterfowl, coot", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[15] Köbler lists the corresponding compound under Old Saxon watar.^[16]

Reflexes

• Old English: wæter (“water”)^[17]
• Old Frisian: weter (“water, body of water”)^[12]
• Old Saxon: watar (“water”)^[18]
• Old Dutch: watar (“water”)^[11]
• Old High German: wazzar (“water”)^[19]

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. 119
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *watar
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. 59
4. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 575
5. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 59–60
6. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 60
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 266
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 286
9. ^ Hogg, Richard M.; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, vol. 2: Morphology, Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, p. 99
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. water
11. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. watar
12. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. weter
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *watarweg
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wæterweg
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *watarhōn
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. watar
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wæter
18. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 439
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wazzar