*wurhtijō

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *wurhtijō "worker, workman" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Proto-West Germanic *wurhti (“deed, act”) + *-jō (“agent suffix”) in Wiktionary's analysis.^[1] Köbler refers Old High German wurhto to wurht,^[2] which he glosses "merit, gain" and traces to Proto-Germanic *wurhtiz (“deed, act”).^[3]

Morphology

A masculine n-stem.^[4][5][2]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English wyrhta, also wryhta, glossing Latin faber and operārius,^[4] in Old Frisian wrichta "labourer",^[6] in Old Saxon wurhtio, recorded three times in the Heliand with the spellings ⟨uurhteo⟩, ⟨uuarihtio⟩ and ⟨uurhteon⟩,^[5] and in Old High German wurhto, recorded seven times, in glosses, Otfrid and Tatian, where it renders Latin artifex and operārius.^[2]

Competing analyses

Bammesberger traces Old English wyrhta and Old High German wurhteo to *wurht-ijan-, an n-stem of the Proto-Germanic period.^[7]

Meanings

1. worker, workman^[1]

Old English also used the noun for "artist, maker, creator",^[8] and Old High German for "doer, artisan, maker".^[2]

Derivatives

• *skōhawurhtijō "shoemaker", which Wiktionary reconstructs;^[9] Köbler lists Old English scōhwyrhta among the Old English compounds of the noun.^[4]

Reflexes

• Old English: wyrhta (“worker, artist, maker, creator”)^[8]
• Old Frisian: wrichta (“labourer”)^[6]
• Old Saxon: wurhtio (“worker”)^[5]
• Old High German: wurhto (“worker, doer, artisan”)^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wurhtijō
2. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wurhto
3. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *wurhti-, *wurhtiz
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wyrhta
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wurhtio
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wrichta
7. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 182
8. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wyrhta
9. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *skōhawurhtijō