dammr

Forms

dammr m^[1][2] Middle Norwegian also has a neuter damm.^[3]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Middle Low German dam (“dam, dyke”).^[4][5] Fischer lists it among the Low German loans, with the verb demma (“to dam”).^[4] Óskarsson notes that Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon and Hellquist give the Low German origin as possible, while NÅN is surer of it and gives historical grounds.^[3] Jóhannesson also allows a loan.^[6]

The Low German word goes back to Proto-Germanic *dammaz, continued also by Old Frisian damm and Old High German tam.^[7][5] Köbler calls its origin unknown.^[8] Orel derives it from a form of the root “to put”, comparing Sanskrit धामन् (dhā́man, “statute, law”);^[7] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon mentions a link with Ancient Greek τάφος (táphos, “grave”) but finds the root Proto-Indo-European *dhē- (“to put, set”) just as likely.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Óskarsson dates the Norwegian records first: the neuter damm in a charter of 1312, and the masculine in a charter of 1365.^[3] In Iceland it first appears in a charter of 1493: ur alfatiǫrn upp í damminn “from Álfatjǫrn up into the pond”; Óskarsson glosses the word “pond” or “dam”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Besides the weir or dam, the word named the water held back by it, a pond; this is ONP's commoner sense, and its one dated example, from 1535, has it beside brooks and pits: læke pytta og damma “brooks, pits and ponds”.^[1] The record is mostly in charters.^[1] Cleasby and Vigfússon add the Norwegian compounds dammstokkr “sluice” and dammstæði “dam-site”.^[2] Modern Icelandic dammur means a dammed pond, a puddle, wet meadow and even soaking clothes.^[5][9]

Timeline

• 1312 – the neuter damm in a Norwegian charter (DN 14:2).^[3]
• 1365 – the masculine in a Norwegian charter (DN 21:94).^[3]
• 1493 – damminn in an Icelandic charter (DI 7:170).^[3]
• 1535 – damma “ponds”, ONP's one dated citation.^[1]

Meanings

Noun

1. a weir, dam.^[1][10][2]
2. the water held back by a dam, a pond.^[1]

Word family

• mylnudammr
• dammstokkr
• dammstæði

Descendants

• Icelandic dammur^[5]

Related words

• demma

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. dammr
2. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 95
3. ^ a b c d e f g Veturliði Óskarsson (2003), Middelnedertyske låneord i islandsk diplomsprog frem til år 1500, Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana 43, Copenhagen: Reitzel, p. 227
4. ^ a b Fischer, Frank (1909), Die Lehnwörter des Altwestnordischen, Palaestra 85, Berlin, p. 28
5. ^ a b c d e Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. dammur
6. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 966
7. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 67
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *damma-
9. ^ Sigfús Blöndal (1920–1924), Islandsk-dansk ordbog, Reykjavík, p. 126
10. ^ Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. dammr