hlaupa

Forms

hlaupa (singular past indicative hljóp, plural past indicative hljópu, past participle hlaupinn) (strong)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *hlaupaną (“to leap, run”),^[2][1] a strong verb of the reduplicating class found as Gothic 𐌿𐍃𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ushlaupan, “to leap up”), Old English hlēapan, Old Frisian hlāpa, Old Saxon hlōpan and Old High German hloufan.^[3][2][4] The causative hleypa “to make run” was formed from it.^[5][6]

The further etymology is uncertain.^[4][7] Orel and Holthausen compare Lithuanian verbs for limping and stumbling such as Lithuanian klùpti (“to stumble, kneel”), with Pokorny's root Proto-Indo-European *kʷelp- (“to stumble, trot”);^[2][8][9] de Vries finds the meaning a difficulty.^[4] Wiktionary sets up Proto-Indo-European *klewb- (“to spring, stumble”).^[1] Trier derived it from a word for a round dance, and Seebold compared Ancient Greek κέλευθος (kéleuthos, “way, course”).^[4][2]

Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon suggests that the different senses of Icelandic ⟨hlaupa⟩ go back to lost prefixes: “to curdle, shrink” from a form with ⟨ga-⟩, “to leap” from one with ⟨uz-⟩, as in the Gothic verb.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's earliest dated text is the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 B, of 1150–1250, with hlaupi and laypi.^[11] ONP's first dated citation, from 1200, uses it of oxen running forward: Eɴ ozn hliopo fram hart “But the oxen ran forward hard”.^[12] In the Old Norwegian Homily Book, dated 1212 by ONP, it renders Latin saliens “leaping”: sa kømr laupande umm fioll “he comes leaping over the mountains”.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Cleasby and Vigfússon take “to leap, jump” as the proper meaning, from which it was used of any sudden movement; running and fleeing come next.^[13][14] With prepositions it covers attacks (hlaupa á e-n, hlaupa at e-m), a storm rising (þá hljóp á útsynningr) and a wound opening or healing.^[15][14] Rivers hlaupa when they flood.^[15] Spellings without h-, such as laupa and liop, are common in the record, as in the Homily Book's laupande.^[12][16]

The Icelandic verb hlaupa means both “to run” and “to curdle”.^[10] English borrowed the verb as Middle English lopen, whence lope, first “to leap” and later “to run with long strides”.^[17][18][4]

Timeline

• 1150–1250 – hlaupi, laypi in NRA norr fragm 81 B.^[11]
• 1200 – hliopo “ran” in ONP's earliest dated citation.^[12]
• 1200–1225 – hljóp, hlaupandi in AM 677 4to.^[19]
• 1212 – laupande “leaping” in the Old Norwegian Homily Book, by ONP's dating.^[12]
• c. 1300 – English lope “to leap”.^[18]

Meanings

Verb

1. to leap, jump, spring.^[15][12][13]
2. to run.^[15][12]
3. to run away, flee.^[14][20]
4. of a river: to flood.^[15]
5. hlaupa á e-n, hlaupa at e-m: to attack someone.^[15][14]

Word family

• hlaup
• hleypa

Descendants

• Icelandic hlaupa^[1]
• Faroese leypa^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk laupa^[1]
• Swedish löpa^[1]
• Danish løbe^[1]
• Middle English lopen^[17]
• English lope^[18]
• Scots loup^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 175
3. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 259
4. ^ a b c d e de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 235
5. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 109
6. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 262
7. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. löpa
8. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 162
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
10. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. hlaupa
11. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 B
12. ^ a b c d e f g Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. hlaupa
13. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 269
14. ^ a b c d Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 258
15. ^ a b c d e f Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. hlaupa
16. ^ 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. hlaupa
17. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018), p. s.v. lopen
18. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com, p. s.v. lope
19. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
20. ^ Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 167