setja

Forms

setja (weak class 1 (short stem))^[1] Present set, past setta or setti, past participle settr.^[2][3] Proto-Norse first person past satido “I set” on the Rö stone.^[4] Viking Age runic setia^[5] and sitia.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *satjaną (“to set, put”),^[1][7] the causative of the verb that gave sitja (“to sit”): “to make sit”.^[7][8][9] An early form of it is the past Proto-Norse ᛊᚨᛏᛁᛞᛟ (satido, “I set”) on the Rö stone.^[1][4] The cognates are Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 (satjan), Old English settan, Old Frisian setta, Old Saxon settian and Old High German sezzen.^[7][10]

Kroonen derives it from Proto-Indo-European *sodéyeti, a causative with the o-grade of *sed- (“to sit”);^[7][1] Orel compares Proto-Slavic *saditi (“to set, plant”) and Old Irish sáidid.^[10] Hellquist sets it beside leggja from liggja as the same kind of causative.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Proto-Norse Rö stone, dated 160–375/400 by Imer, has Ek Hrazaz satido [s]tain[a] “I, Hrazaz, set up the stone”.^[4] Viking Age runestones use the verb in the formula lét setja stein þenna “had this stone set up”, as on Sm 154.^[5] Menota's first dated record is setti in the Norwegian runic inscription N 272 of the twelfth century,^[12] and IcePaHC finds the verb first in the First Grammatical Treatise, dated 1150.^[13]

Semantic evolution

From “seat, place, put” the verb branched out: to drive a weapon into something, to establish laws or peace, to fix a day, to settle a case, to appoint someone to an office, and to calm grief.^[2][14] The mediopassive setjask is “to sit down” or “to settle”, of people and of birds.^[15] In the laws setja lík niðr is to bury a body, setja inn to pen livestock or to imprison someone, and setja upp and setja út to draw a ship up on land or launch it.^[16] In skaldic verse setja stafna í haf “turn the prows to sea” is a phrase of seafaring.^[17][18]

It continues as Icelandic setja and Swedish sätta;^[8][11] Hellquist ascribes several of the Swedish uses to German models.^[8][11]

Timeline

• 160–375/400 – Proto-Norse satido “I set” on the Rö stone, by Imer's dating.^[4]
• 1100–1199 – setti in the Norwegian runic inscription N 272.^[12]
• 1150 – setja, sett and settur in the First Grammatical Treatise, by IcePaHC's dating.^[13]
• 1150–1250 – sett and settar in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 A.^[19]
• 1200–1225 – setja, setti and setjandi in AM 677 4to.^[20]

Meanings

Verb

1. to seat, set, place, put.^[2][3]
2. to drive (a weapon into something).^[2][14]
3. to make, establish (laws, peace, a court).^[2][14]
4. to order, prescribe; to fix (a day).^[2]
5. with the dative: to settle (a case).^[2][1]
6. to appoint (to an office or charge).^[2][21]
7. to allay, calm (grief).^[2][22]
8. to set, inlay (with precious stones).^[2][22]
9. setjask: to sit down, settle.^[15]

Word family

• setning
• skrásetja

Descendants

• Icelandic setja^[1]
• Faroese seta^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk setja^[1]
• Swedish sätta^[1]
• Danish sætte^[1]

Related words

• sitja
• sæti
• set

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. setja
3. ^ a b Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 524
4. ^ a b c d Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Bo KJ73
5. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. Sm 154
6. ^ Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. U 964
7. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 427
8. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. setja
9. ^ Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 426
10. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 319
11. ^ a b c Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. sätta
12. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. N 272
13. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
14. ^ a b c Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 527
15. ^ a b Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. setja
16. ^ Hertzberg, Ebbe (1895), Glossarium, in Norges gamle Love indtil 1387, vol. 5, Christiania, p. 549
17. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 490
18. ^ Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 698
19. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 A
20. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
21. ^ 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. setja
22. ^ a b Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 369