slá

Forms

slá (singular past indicative sló, plural past indicative slógu, past participle sleginn) (strong)^[1] Proto-Norse past participle slaginaz on the Möjbro stone.^[2][3] A preterite sleri (sløru) occurs in Ágrip beside sló.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *slahaną (“to strike, slay”),^[1][6] a strong verb with the cognates Gothic 𐍃𐌻𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (slahan), Old English slēan, Old Frisian slā, Old Saxon slahan and Old High German slahan; the Old English verb is the source of the English word slay.^[6][7][8]

Kroonen derives it from Proto-Indo-European *slak-, a root shared only by Germanic and Celtic, with Middle Irish slachta (“hit”) and slacc (“sword”), and suggests the root was once imitative.^[6][9] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon mentions the alternative of an e-grade root *slek- with a first meaning “to swing, bend”.^[10] Feist doubts the comparison with Indo-Iranian words for throwing.^[7]

The noun slag “stroke, blow” and slátr “slaughtered meat” are of the same family,^[10][3] and a feminine noun of the same spelling, “bar, bolt”, probably first meant a stick to strike with.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The past participle slaginaz “slain” stands on the Swedish Möjbro stone, which Rundata dates 375/400–560/570 after Imer: Frawaradaz ... is slaginaz “Frawaradaz ... is slain”.^[2][3] In Old Norse proper the verb is first dated in manuscripts of 1200–1225: slegit and sla in the Old Norwegian Homily Book, AM 619 4to, and slógu and slósk in AM 677 4to.^[11][12]

Semantic evolution

From “to strike” the verb developed many uses: striking a harp or fiddle, beating the weft in weaving, hammering and forging metal, mowing grass and killing.^[5][4] Fritzner also groups under it setting something in motion and throwing, as in slá eldi í “to set fire to” and slá hundum lausum “to let the hounds loose”.^[13][14] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon thinks the sense “to kill” may have arisen when a prefix was lost.^[10]

In the Edda slá hǫrpu is to play the harp, and slá hǫndum to beat one's hands together in mourning.^[15] The verb continues as Icelandic slá, Swedish slå and Danish slå, and Swedish still has the old sense “to kill” in the older Bible translation.^[10][16]

Timeline

• 375/400–560/570 – Proto-Norse slaginaz “slain” on the Möjbro stone, by Imer's dating.^[2]
• 1200–1225 – slegit, sla in the Old Norwegian Homily Book, AM 619 4to.^[11]
• 1200–1225 – slógu, slósk in AM 677 4to.^[12]
• 1210 – sló in IcePaHC's earliest text with the verb, by its dating.^[17]
• 1250–1300 – sló in the Vǫluspá of GKS 2365 4to.^[18]

Meanings

Verb

1. to strike, smite, hit;^[5][4] slá e-n hǫgg, to strike someone a blow.^[5][4]
2. to play (a harp or fiddle); slá slag, to strike up a tune;^[5] slá vef, to beat the weft in weaving.^[5]
3. to hammer, forge (gold, silver, a sword); to mount or fit with metal.^[5][19]
4. to cut grass, mow.^[5][14]
5. to slay, kill.^[5][19]
6. to throw, cast, set in motion;^[13][14] slá eldi í, to set fire to.^[13][14]
7. in phrases: slá kaupi, to strike a bargain;^[5] slá hring um, to form a ring around;^[5] slá landtjǫldum, to pitch or strike tents.^[5]

Word family

• sláttr
• sleggja
• slag
• slagr
• slátr

Descendants

• Icelandic slá^[1]
• Faroese slá^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk slå^[1]
• Old Swedish slā^[1]
• Swedish slå^[1]
• Old Danish slā^[1]
• Danish slå^[1]

Usage notes

A separate feminine noun slá means “bar, bolt, cross-beam”, with the weak verb slá (sláða) “to bar”.^[20][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. U 877
3. ^ a b c Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. 342
4. ^ a b c d Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 566
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. slá
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 452
7. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 259
8. ^ Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. 425
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 348
10. ^ a b c d e Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. slá
11. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
12. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
13. ^ a b c d Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. slá
14. ^ a b c d 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. slá
15. ^ Neckel, Gustav (1927), Edda: Die Lieder des Codex Regius, vol. 2: Kommentierendes Glossar, Heidelberg, p. 153
16. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. slå
17. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
18. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. GKS 2365 4to
19. ^ a b Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 406
20. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 567