taka

Forms

taka (singular past indicative tók, plural past indicative tóku, past participle tekit) (strong)^[1] Runic preterite plural toku on the Viking Age Uppland stone U 614.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *takaną (“to touch, take”),^[1][4] beside an ablaut variant *tēkaną in Gothic 𐍄𐌴𐌺𐌰𐌽 (tekan, “to touch”); Middle Dutch taken (“to take, seize”) and Middle Low German tacken (“to touch”) are weak verbs of the same stem.^[4][5] The late Old English verb tacan was taken from Norse.^[6]

Kroonen derives it from Proto-Indo-European *teh₂g- (“to touch”), with Tocharian B täk- (“to touch”) and Ancient Greek τεταγών (tetagṓn, “seizing”), and explains the Norse verb as a zero-grade present; the Germanic initial ⟨t⟩ where ⟨þ⟩ would be expected is the main difficulty, perhaps due to a reduplicated stem.^[4] Orel adds Latin tangō (“to touch”).^[7] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon calls the origin unclear and doubts the view that the Norse vowel was shortened from the long vowel of Gothic, preferring an ablaut grade.^[5] Seip explained the short vowel by weak stress, as Jóhannesson reports.^[8]

The noun of the same form, “taking, capture”, is derived from the verb.^[5][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Viking Age runestone in Uppland, U 614, has the preterite toku in þiR · kialt · toku · a kutlanti, “when they took payment on Gotland”.^[2] In Old Norse proper Menota's first record is the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 A, dated 1150–1250, with taka and tekit.^[10] Larsson lists the verb among the oldest Icelandic manuscripts, with tók and tekr in Rb.^[11] The noun appears there in the compounds fétaka and viðtaka.^[11]

Semantic evolution

De Leeuw van Weenen puts the verb in the top frequency band, among the hundred commonest words.^[12] From “take hold of, grasp” Cleasby and Vigfússon pass to “seize” property or a town and “catch” a person, and Zoëga to figurative uses such as taka trú “to take the faith” and taka sótt “to fall ill”.^[13][14] The older sense “touch, reach”, which Gothic kept alone, survives beside them.^[4][15] In the laws taka is to apprehend a person or receive a surety.^[16]

The noun covers taking by force and theft, then revenue, the tenure of land and bail.^[17][18]

The verb continues as Icelandic taka, Swedish ta and Danish tage.^[5][19] The English verb take comes from it and displaced the Old English verb niman.^[13][20]

Timeline

• 1150–1250 – taka, tekit in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 A.^[10]
• 1200–1225 – taka, tók, tekit in the manuscripts AM 619 4to and AM 677 4to.^[21][22]
• 1225–1250 – tækr, tok in the Legendary Saga of St Olaf, DG 8 II.^[23]

Meanings

Verb

1. to take, take hold of, grasp.^[14][13]
2. to seize property, take by force; to occupy a place.^[13][9]
3. to catch, capture a person.^[14][9]
4. to take up, accept: taka trú “to become a Christian”, taka sættum “to accept terms”.^[14]
5. to choose, elect.^[24][25]
6. to hold, contain.^[24]
7. to reach, touch.^[15][24]
8. with at and an infinitive: to begin.^[15][25]
9. (mediopassive) takask: to arise, come about.^[1]

Noun

1. a taking, capture of a fortress or prisoner.^[17][9]
2. an unlawful taking of property, theft.^[17][18]
3. revenue, income.^[17][9]
4. (law) the tenure of land.^[17][18]
5. (law) bail, security.^[17][18]

Word family

• tak
• tekja
• tekt
• tœkr
• viðtaka
• fjártaka
• upptaka
• handtaka

Descendants

• Icelandic taka^[1]
• Faroese taka^[1]
• Norn taka^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk taka^[1]
• Old Swedish taka^[1]
• Swedish ta^[1]
• Old Danish takæ^[1]
• Danish tage^[1]
• Old English tacan^[1][6]
• Middle English taken (→ English take)^[1][20]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata 3.1), Uppsala universitet (inscriptions by signum), p. U 614
3. ^ Peterson, Lena (2006), Svenskt runordsregister, 3rd rev. ed., Runrön 2, Uppsala: Institutionen för nordiska språk
4. ^ a b c d Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 507
5. ^ a b c d Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. taka
6. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 400
8. ^ Jóhannesson, Alexander (1956), Isländisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern, p. 479
9. ^ a b c d e Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 640
10. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 A
11. ^ a b Larsson, Ludvig (1891), Ordförrådet i de älsta islänska handskrifterna, Lund: Ph. Lindstedt, p. 325
12. ^ de Leeuw van Weenen, Andrea (1999), Grundwortschatz Altisländisch, Leiden, p. 10
13. ^ a b c d Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 622
14. ^ a b c d Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. taka
15. ^ 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. taka
16. ^ A Lexicon of Medieval Nordic Law, Digital Humanities Institute, University of Sheffield, p. s.v. taka
17. ^ a b c d e f Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 623
18. ^ a b c d Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. taka
19. ^ Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. taga
20. ^ a b Dance, Richard; Pons-Sanz, Sara; Schorn, Brittany, eds., The Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, gersum.org
21. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
22. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
23. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 8 II
24. ^ a b c Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 454
25. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. taka