*witan

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *witaną (“to know”),^[3][4] which Kroonen cites by its stem *witan-.^[5]

Morphology

A preterite-present verb.^[5][6] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct its Proto-West Germanic paradigm with the infinitive *witan, the inflected infinitive *witannjē, the present participle *witandī, the present indicative *wait, *waist, *wait, plural *witum, *witud, *witun, the present subjunctive *witī, the past indicative *wissā, *wissēs or *-ōs, *wissē or *-ā, plural *wissum, *wissud, *wissun, the past subjunctive *wissī and the past participle *witan.^[7] The second singular present in *-(s)t of the preterite-presents survived unchanged, as in Old English wāst, Old Saxon wēst and Old High German weist "you know".^[8][1] In West Germanic the preterite-presents acquired past participles in *-an like the strong verbs; the only example well attested in both Old English and Old High German is *gawitan "known", continued by ġewiten and giwiʒʒan.^[9]

Evidence

The verb is attested in Old Frisian wita, Old Saxon witan and Old High German wizzan, and in Old English as West Saxon witan, Mercian weotan and Northumbrian ⟨wuta⟩, a more or less clear dialect distribution of the effects of back umlaut.^[4] In Old Dutch, ONW records witon in the psalms of the 10th century, in Williram's commentary of 1100 and in the Middle Franconian Rhyme Bible.^[10] Gamillscheg derives Old French guier (“to guide”), recorded in the Song of Roland, from Frankish *witan (“to point in a direction”), which he compares with Old Norse vita and Old English ġewītan;^[11] Wiktionary lists Old French guier among the descendants of both *witaną and *wītaną.^[12][13]

Meanings

1. to know^[1][2]

Old English also used the verb for "to notice, to understand, to feel",^[14] and Old Frisian for "to swear to, to declare, to decide".^[15]

Derivatives

• *witō "wise man" and *gawitō "witness": Old English wita, ġewita, Old Frisian wita (“witness”), Old High German wiʒʒo, giwiʒʒo.^[4]
• *witōd "certain", Old Saxon witod, from Proto-Northwest Germanic *witōdaz "observed, determined", the base of Old English witodlīċe (“certainly, truly”).^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: witan (“to know, to notice, to understand”)^[14]
• Old Frisian: wita (“to know, to swear to, to declare”)^[15]
• Old Saxon: witan (“to know”)^[16]
• Old Dutch: witon (“to know”)^[10]
• Old High German: wizzan (“to know”)^[17]

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. 109
2. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *witan
3. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 78
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. 323
5. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 589
6. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. witan
7. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 109–110
8. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 69
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 77–78
10. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. witon
11. ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1966–1969), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der französischen Sprache, 2nd, fully revised ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 539
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *witaną
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wītaną
14. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. witan
15. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wita
16. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 459
17. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wizzan