*wurti

Reconstruction

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

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *wurtiz (“root, plant”),^[1] which Orel also writes *wurtiz and Kroonen cites by its stem *wurti- "(medicinal) root; herb".^[3][4] Ringe and Taylor trace *wurtiz to a Proto-Germanic noun *wrōt- ~ *wurt- "root", the source of Old Norse rót.^[5] Wiktionary instead derives the Proto-West Germanic word directly from Proto-Germanic *wrōts (“root”).^[2] Ringe and Taylor set the change from *wurtiz to *wurti beside that of *gastiz "guest" to *gasti.^[1]

Morphology

A feminine i-stem.^[6][7] In Old English the root vowel was umlauted before the -i, giving *wyrti,^[5] and the stem vowel of i-stems was then lost, so that *wyrti became wyrt.^[1]

Evidence

The word is found in Old English wyrt, Old Saxon wurt and Old High German wurz.^[5][1] The Heliand has the nominative singular ⟨uurt⟩ and the plural ⟨uurti⟩.^[8] In Old Dutch, ONW records ⟨vurti⟩ glossing Latin herba and ⟨vuirte⟩ glossing holera in the psalm glosses of the 10th century.^[9] Old Frisian has the derivative wirtel, wortel (“root”).^[10] Gothic ⟨waúrts⟩ and Old Norse urt continue the Proto-Germanic noun too.^[5]

Competing analyses

Kroonen notes that the root noun usually reconstructed as Proto-Germanic *wrōt-, Old Norse rót, unexpectedly lost its initial *w in East Norse, so that the standard connection with *wurti- can only be kept by assuming that the *w was dropped ad hoc.^[11] He also finds the Indo-European root of the word hardly reconstructable, its relatives outside Germanic disagreeing in form.^[4]

Meanings

1. root^[1][2]
2. plant, herb^[1][4]
3. spice^[2][12]

Old English also used the word for "crop",^[13] Old Saxon for "flower",^[6] and Old High German for "vegetable".^[12]

Derivatives

• De Vaan derives Dutch wortel from Proto-Germanic *wurti-walu- "root-stick", with Old English wyrtwalu, Old High German wurzala and Old Frisian wirtel;^[10] Kroonen explains the compound in the same way.^[4]
• De Vaan also sets up *wurtjō-, the source of Old Saxon wurtia.^[10]
• *wurtijan "to spice, to season" and *wurtigard "vegetable garden", which Wiktionary reconstructs.^[14][15]

Reflexes

• Old English: wyrt (“root, herb, plant, spice, crop”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: wurt (“root, herb, plant, flower”)^[8]
• Old Dutch: wurt (“herb”)^[9]
• Old High German: wurz (“spice, herb, plant, root, vegetable”)^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 287
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wurti
3. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 476
4. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 600
5. ^ 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. 224
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wurt
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wyrt
8. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. wurt
9. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. wurt
10. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2017), The Dawn of Dutch: Language Contact in the Western Low Countries before 1200, NOWELE Supplement Series 30, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins, p. 281
11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 597
12. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. wurz
13. ^ a b Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. wyrt
14. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wurtijan
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *wurtigard