*gʰabʰ-

Reconstruction

*gʰabʰ- is the older reconstruction of a verb for taking hold, with a root vowel *a: Mallory and Adams set up *ghabh- 'take, seize' and call it primarily western.^[1] Pokorny's root *ghabh- 'to grab, take' is the source of this form.^[2] LIV does not set up *gʰabʰ-; it divides the material between ?*g/g̑ʰeHb- 'to seize, take', which it limits to Italic and Celtic, and *gʰebʰ- 'to grasp, take; to give', with Gothic and Lithuanian verbs.^[3][4] De Vaan reconstructs the Latin verb with a laryngeal, as *ghh₁b(h)-(e)i- 'to take',^[5] and ALEW writes the root *gʰeh₂b- 'to grab, seize'.^[6]

Morphology

LIV's ?*g/g̑ʰeHb- has a root aorist, a zero-grade i̯é-present and an essive in *-h₁i̯é-, the last continued by Latin habeō (“to have, hold”).^[3] De Vaan derives the stative of Proto-Italic from an aorist with the suffix *-eh₁-, 'has taken', hence 'has, holds'.^[5] Sihler explains the third singular Latin habet from *ghabh-eH₁-ye-ti, and compares the Germanic class III weak verbs.^[7]

Evidence

The Italic and Celtic verbs are the core: Latin habeō, Umbrian forms and the Celtic present *gab-i-.^[5] De Vaan also lists an Indo-Iranian word for 'hand', Baltic verbs and Slavic verbs for seizing as cognates.^[5] LIV puts the Indo-Iranian word for 'hand' and the Baltic and Slavic forms under *gʰebʰ- instead, and grants that the two roots are not always easy to tell apart.^[4] There is no Anatolian, Greek or Tocharian verb;^[3][5] Adams mentions the Latin verb only as Hamp's alternative etymology for a Tocharian noun.^[8]

Competing analyses

Schrijver argues that no root *ghabh- without a laryngeal can account for all the forms, against Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny, and that a morphological zero grade of a CeC root is unlikely for Italo-Celtic, so the Latin verb must have had a laryngeal.^[9] LIV likewise rejects a variant *gʰeHbʰ- based on an Oscan future, and notes that the root belongs to a group of probably onomatopoeic roots for grasping with the shape velar, vowel, laryngeal, labial, beside *gʰebʰ- and *keh₂p-.^[3] Derksen finds LIV's split between *gʰebʰ- and *ǵʰeHb- somewhat arbitrary: many forms could come from a single *gʰabʰ-, and the Germanic verb for 'give' may contain the prefix *ga- and be unrelated.^[10] Watkins sets up *ghabh- with a variant *ghebh- and the gloss 'to give or receive', putting the Germanic verbs for 'give' under it.^[11] Mallory and Adams compare a root *kap- of the same meaning,^[12] and Gamkrelidze and Ivanov treat the two as alternants under the glottalic theory.^[13]

Meanings

1. to seize, to take,^[3][14] to grab^[6]

'Have' is the Latin development: de Vaan, following Schrijver, explains it as 'has taken'.^[5] De Bernardo Stempel argues that Proto-Celtic *gab- first meant 'give', which Matasović finds plausible.^[15]

Derivatives

• Latin habēna (“rein, strap”), habitō (“to live in, dwell”) and the compounds prohibeō (“to keep off, prevent”) and praebeō (“to put forward, provide”).^[5]

Reflexes

• Italic: Latin habeō (“to have, hold”), Umbrian habetu (“shall hold”).^[5][3]
• Celtic: Old Irish gaibid (“takes”), Gaulish gabi (“take!”), from Proto-Celtic *gab-yo- (“take, hold”).^[15]
• Baltic: Lithuanian góbti (“to wrap up; to seize”), under *gʰeh₂b-.^[6]
• Slavic: Proto-Slavic *gabati (“to seize”), with a Slovene verb meaning 'to be in need, starve'.^[10]

References

1. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford: OUP, p. 270-271
2. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. s.v. ghabh-
3. ^ a b c d e f Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. ?*g/g̑ʰeHb-
4. ^ a b Rix, Helmut, et al. (2001), Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2nd ed., Wiesbaden: Reichert, p. s.v. *gʰebʰ-
5. ^ a b c d e f g h de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. habeō
6. ^ a b c Hock, Wolfgang, et al. (2015), Altlitauisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (ALEW), online and Hamburg: Baar, p. s.v. góbti
7. ^ Sihler, Andrew L. (1995), New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin, New York: OUP
8. ^ Adams, Douglas Q. (2013), A Dictionary of Tocharian B, 2nd ed., Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 148
9. ^ Schrijver, Peter (1991), The Reflexes of the Proto-Indo-European Laryngeals in Latin, Amsterdam: Rodopi, p. 93
10. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 159
11. ^ Watkins, Calvert (2000), "Indo-European Roots", appendix to The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin, p. s.v. ghabh-
12. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford: OUP, p. 271
13. ^ Gamkrelidze, Thomas V.; Ivanov, Vjačeslav V. (1995), Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans, Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 17
14. ^ Mallory, J. P.; Adams, D. Q. (2006), The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World, Oxford: OUP, p. 270
15. ^ a b Matasović, Ranko (2009), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, Leiden: Brill, p. 153