hér

Forms

hér^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hē₂r (“here”),^[1] which Kroonen writes *hiar; the same adverb is Gothic 𐌷𐌴𐍂 (her), Old English hēr, Old Frisian hīr, Old Saxon hēr and Old High German hiar.^[2][3]

It is formed with the suffix *-r of þar and hvar on the demonstrative stem *hi- “this”, as in hinn and heðan.^[3][4][2] Kroonen traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ki-or and compares Lithuanian šis (“this”); for him the diphthong of the North-West Germanic form fell together very early with the long vowel that gives the ⟨é⟩ of Norse and the ⟨ē⟩ of Gothic.^[2] Orel starts from Proto-Indo-European *ḱēi-r-,^[5] and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon allows *ḱei-r beside it.^[4] Forms with a diphthong such as Old Swedish hiar are found in Swedish runic inscriptions and in Old Swedish and Old Gutnish texts, beside hær.^[3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's earliest dated record is the Norwegian runestone N 413, of 1100–1150, which commemorates a man er hér var hǫggvinn, er steinn sá stendr “who was cut down here, where this stone stands”.^[6][7] Swedish runestones of the Viking Age write hiar, as Sö 138: Hér stendr steinn “here stands the stone”.^[8] In manuscripts ONP's first dated record is from about 1200: Her es nu rex yþvaʀ “here now is your king”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The main sense is rest in a place, “here”, with hér ok hvar “here and there” and hér á landi “in this country”;^[9][10] with verbs of motion it means “hither”.^[11][9] In letters and charters it marks the writer's place against the addressee's, and in texts a point in the narrative, as in svá sem hér segir “as is told here”.^[9] The early homilies use it of life in this world as opposed to the next.^[9] With prepositions it forms adverbs like hér af “from this”, hér eptir “hereafter” and hér til “until now”.^[10][12] In the Norwegian laws hér can mean Norway itself.^[13]

It continues as Icelandic hér, Faroese her, Swedish här and Danish her.^[1][4]

Timeline

• 1100–1150 – hér on the Norwegian runestone N 413.^[6]
• 1200 – Her es nu rex yþvaʀ “here now is your king” in an Icelandic homily.^[9]
• 1212 – hér of a point in a text, in GregDialA.^[9]

Meanings

Adverb

1. here, in this place; in this country.^[9][10]
2. (letters and charters) here, where the writer is.^[9]
3. here, at this point of a text or story.^[9][14]
4. hither, to this place.^[9][10]
5. in this case, in this matter.^[12][15]

Word family

• hérna
• hérvist

Descendants

• Icelandic hér^[1]
• Faroese her^[1]
• Norwegian her^[1]
• Old Swedish hær^[1]
• Swedish här^[1]
• Old Danish hær^[1]
• Danish her^[1]

Related words

• heðan
• heðra
• hinn
• hann
• þar
• hvar

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 Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 225
3. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 222
4. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. hér
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 172
6. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 413
7. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. N 413
8. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Sö 138
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. hér
10. ^ a b c d Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. hér
11. ^ Gering, Hugo (1915), Glossar zu den Liedern der Edda, 4th ed., Paderborn, p. 79
12. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 248
13. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 281
14. ^ Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. hér
15. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 256