gata

Forms

gata f (genitive gǫtu, plural gǫtur) (weak ōn-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *gatwǭ (“road, alley”),^[1][2][3] with Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍄𐍅𐍉 (gatwō, “street”), Middle Low German gate (“alley, street”) and Old High German gazza (“lane”), the source of German Gasse.^[2][4] The Gothic stem with w does not give the Norse form directly: Kroonen, after Noreen, takes the Norse word as a back-formation from the oblique cases of an older paradigm with w in the nominative.^[2][1] de Vries makes the same point and calls the word obscure.^[4]

Kroonen relates it to Proto-Germanic *getaną (“to find (a way), get”) and compares Proto-Germanic *gatą (“hole”), the source of gat (“opening”);^[2] Orel also derives it from the verb.^[3] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon thinks it probably related to the latter, with a first sense “a cleared track, a passage”, as through woodland, and rejects a compound of a prefix and the word for “two”, a path between two fences.^[5] de Vries finds that link doubtful.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first record is the Icelandic homily fragment Hóm237, dated 1150, in a moral sense: gata goþs “the path of God”.^[6] The Icelandic Homily Book, which ONP dates to 1200, has the plain sense of a way: Af forse drak hann a gǫto “he drank from the torrent on the way”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Fritzner takes the first sense to be an opening or way out, and the usual one a road shut in on both sides by fences, woods or people.^[7] ONP's senses run from a passage through an obstacle, often cut through an enemy host (ryðja gǫtu, hǫggva gǫtu), and a narrow lane, through the gauntlet a thief was made to run (gera gǫtu) and a beaten road or highway, to a route, and the path of a life or of virtue.^[6][8] The laws regulate fenced roads and use it of a street in a town.^[9][7] alla gǫtu is used as an adverb, “always, throughout”.^[10] In skaldic kennings the shield is the “path of the sword” and the sea the “path” of fish.^[11][12]

It continues as Icelandic gata, Faroese gøta, Norwegian Nynorsk gate, Swedish gata and Danish gade, in the mainland languages a town street.^[4][5] Middle English gate “way, road” is always derived from it,^[13][4] and it is the source of English gait, first “a going, a journey”, later, from the 15th century, a way of walking.^[14]

Timeline

• 1150 – gata goþs “the path of God” in the homily fragment Hóm237.^[6]
• 1200 – a gǫto “on the way” in the Icelandic Homily Book.^[6]
• 1200–1225 – gata, gotu in the Norwegian AM 619 4to and gǫtu in the Icelandic AM 677 4to.^[15][16]
• 1212 – gata “lane, narrow path” in the Icelandic homily manuscript AM 677 4to.^[6]
• About 1200 – Middle English gate “way, road, path”, from the Old Norse word.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. an opening, a passage (through an obstacle, or through a host of enemies).^[6][8]
2. a lane, a narrow path.^[6][10]
3. (law) the gauntlet, as a punishment.^[6][7]
4. a road, highway, beaten track; a street.^[6][9]
5. a route, a way.^[6][10]
6. (Christian) the path or course of a life, in a moral sense.^[6]

Word family

• gatnamót
• gǫtubreidd
• gǫtunisti
• gǫtustigr
• gǫtuþjófr
• krossgata
• reiðgata

Descendants

• Icelandic gata^[1]
• Faroese gøta^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk gate^[1]
• Old Swedish gata^[1]
• Swedish gata^[1]
• Old Danish gatæ^[1]
• Danish gade^[1]
• Finnish katu^[1]
• Middle English gate (→ English gait)^[13][14]

Related words

• gat
• geta

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 170
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 128
4. ^ a b c d e de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 158
5. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. gata
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. gata
7. ^ a b c Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. gata
8. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 186
9. ^ a b Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 231
10. ^ a b c Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. gata
11. ^ Meissner, Rudolf (1921), Die Kenningar der Skalden, Bonn & Leipzig, p. 169
12. ^ Meissner, Rudolf (1921), Die Kenningar der Skalden, Bonn & Leipzig, p. 96
13. ^ a b Dance, Richard; Pons-Sanz, Sara; Schorn, Brittany, eds., The Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, gersum.org
14. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
15. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to