langr

Forms

langr^[1] Feminine lǫng, neuter langt; comparative lengri, superlative lengstr.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *langaz (“long”),^[1][4] which also gave Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌲𐌲𐍃 (laggs), Old English lang, Old Frisian long, Old Saxon lang and Old High German lang.^[4][5]

Kroonen takes it as a nasalised form of the root Proto-Indo-European *dlh₁gʰ- (“long”), which would imply an unattested nasal present.^[4] The usual comparison is with Latin longus (“long”), and, without the nasal, with Ancient Greek δολιχός (dolikhós, “long”) and Lithuanian ilgas (“long”);^[6][7][5] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon also suggests a root *del-.^[7] Hellquist objects that if the Celtic word for “long” is native, *longʰo- cannot come from *dlongʰo-.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

ONP's first dated citations are from the manuscript it cites as EncCod1812, of 1192, where the dative plural is used as an adverb: krabbe gengr ǫfógr lꜵngom “the crab often walks backwards”.^[9] In the Icelandic homilies of about 1200 the word is already used of time (lǫng stund “a long while”) and of distance (langt “far”).^[9]

Semantic evolution

ONP orders the senses from length in space (“long, tall”) through distance (“far”), difference in kind (langt frá “by no means”), duration and wordiness to “tedious”.^[9] The neuter langt is the adverb “far; long”, and with the dative e-m er langt at e-m means that one takes an interest in a person.^[10][11] Fǫstudagr inn langi “the long Friday” is Good Friday.^[2][11] In poetry the word is used above all of roads and journeys, as in langr vegr.^[12]

It continues as Icelandic langur, Faroese langur, Norwegian Nynorsk lang, Swedish lång and Danish lang.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1192 – lǫngum “often, for a long time” in EncCod1812, ONP's first dated citation.^[9]
• 1200 – lǫng stund “a long while” in the Icelandic Homily Book, by ONP's dating.^[9]
• 1200–1225 – langt, lengra, lǫngum in AM 677 4to.^[13]
• 1250 – the sense of physical length in Grágás, by ONP's dating.^[9]
• 1305–1325 – laku for langu on the Gotland inscription G 158.^[14]
• 1386 – Langr as a byname in Diplomatarium Norvegicum.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. long from one end to the other; tall.^[9][10]
2. long in distance; neuter langt “far, from far away”.^[9][10]
3. far apart, very different;^[9] langt frá “by no means”.^[9]
4. long in time, lasting;^[9][11] fyrir lǫngu “long ago”, lǫngum “often”.^[9][11]
5. of speech: lengthy, detailed;^[9][3] segja langt “to speak at length”.^[9][3]
6. (grammar) long, of a letter or syllable.^[9]
7. tedious, wearisome;^[9][10] e-m er langt at e-m “one takes an interest in someone”.^[9][10]

Word family

• langa
• lengd
• lengi
• lengja
• aflangr
• endilangr
• jafnlangr
• oflangr
• alllangr
• langskip

Descendants

• Icelandic langur^[1]
• Faroese langur^[1]
• Norn lang^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk lang^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål lang^[1]
• Old Swedish langer^[1]
• Swedish lång^[1]
• Old Danish langer^[1]
• Danish lang^[1]

Usage notes

Langr was used as a byname, especially in Norway, and as a name of a sword in Egils saga.^[15][16] The great ship of Óláfr Tryggvason was Ormrinn langi “the Long Serpent”.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 372
3. ^ a b c 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. langr
4. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 327
5. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 360
6. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 345
7. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. langur
8. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. lång
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Ordbog over det norrøne prosasprog / A Dictionary of Old Norse Prose, Copenhagen, onp.ku.dk (CC BY-SA 4.0), p. s.v. langr
10. ^ a b c d e Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. langr
11. ^ a b c d Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 362
12. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 358
13. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
14. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. G 158
15. ^ a b Lind, E. H. (1905–1915), Norsk-isländska dopnamn ock fingerade namn från medeltiden, Uppsala & Leipzig, p. col. 592
16. ^ Falk, Hjalmar (1914), Altnordische Waffenkunde, Kristiania, p. 54
17. ^ Faulkes, Anthony, ed., Two Icelandic Stories: Hreiðars þáttr, Orms þáttr, Viking Society Text Series 4, London (glossary), p. 133