sundr

Forms

sundr^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *sundraz (“separate, apart”),^[1][2] an adjective that appears as an adverb in Gothic 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍂𐍉 (sundrō, “apart, alone”), Old English sundor, Old Frisian sunder, Old Saxon sundar and Old High German suntar.^[2][3][4] Köbler lists the Old Norse word as an adjective meaning “in two, separated”.^[5]

Orel and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon take it as a formation with the comparative suffix ⟨-ter-⟩, comparing Sanskrit सनितुर् (sanitúr, “apart from, without”), Ancient Greek ἄτερ (áter, “without, far from”), Latin sine (“without”) and Old Irish sain (“different, special”);^[2][6] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *sn̥-ter- (“by itself, separated”).^[6] Wiktionary gives the preform as Proto-Indo-European *sn̥Htros, from Proto-Indo-European *senH- (“apart, without”), and leaves open a link with Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”).^[1] That link was Bugge's: he reconstructed Proto-Indo-European *sm̥-ter-,^[2] and Hellquist names Noreen and Kluge on the same side;^[7] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon thinks it less likely.^[6] De Vries and Köbler put it under Pokorny's root Proto-Indo-European *seni- (“for oneself, apart”).^[4][5][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota first records the adverb in two manuscripts of 1200–1225, AM 619 4to and AM 677 4to, with the spellings sundr and ſundr.^[9][10] The Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 61, of 1200–1300, has it too.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The adverb is used with verbs of breaking, cutting and separating: brjóta, hǫggva, rífa, skera sundr; it is often written í sundr with the same meaning.^[12][13] In the Edda the rafters burst asunder, raptar sundr brusto, in Atlamál.^[14][15] With segja it declares a bond at an end: segja friði í sundr “to declare the peace broken”, and segja frændsemi í sundr “to renounce kinship”.^[13][16] In the laws bera frændsemi sundr meant to testify that people were not related.^[13]

From the adverb came the verb sundra “to separate, to cut up”.^[4] The word continues as Icelandic sundur and Faroese sundur, and on the mainland as Swedish sönder and Danish sønder.^[6][7]

Timeline

• 1200–1225 – sundr in AM 619 4to and AM 677 4to.^[9][10]
• 1225–1250 – sundr, sunndr in DG 8 II.^[17]
• 1250–1300 – svndr in AM 655 XXX 4to.^[18]

Meanings

Adverb

1. asunder, apart, in two, to pieces; also í sundr.^[19][13][16]
2. segja e-u (í) sundr: to declare something at an end, to renounce (peace, kinship).^[19][13]

Word family

• sundra

Descendants

• Icelandic sundur^[1]
• Faroese sundur^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk sunder^[1]
• Swedish sönder^[1]
• Danish sønder^[1]

Usage notes

Fritzner notes that the word is mostly used in the phrase í sundr.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. 386
3. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 330
4. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 561
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. sundr
6. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. sundur
7. ^ a b Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. sönder
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
9. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
10. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
11. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 61
12. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 604
13. ^ a b c d e f Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. sundr
14. ^ Gering, Hugo (1903), Vollständiges Wörterbuch zu den Liedern der Edda, Halle: Waisenhaus, p. col. 989
15. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 546
16. ^ a b Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 619
17. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 8 II
18. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 655 XXX 4to
19. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. sundr