vatn

Forms

vatn n (strong a-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *watōr (“water”),^[1] a noun whose stem ended in -r in the nominative and accusative and in -n in the other cases.^[2][1] Old Norse generalised the n-stem, as Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (watō) with genitive 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌽𐍃 (watins) partly did, while Old English wæter, Old Frisian weter, Old Saxon watar and Old High German wazzar generalised the r-stem.^[1][2][3] Hellquist explains the ⟨n⟩ of the nominative as taken from the cases that lost their vowel, like the Gothic dative plural 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐌽𐌰𐌼 (watnam).^[4] A trace of the r-stem with e-grade survives in the Swedish lake name Old Swedish Vætur, now Vättern.^[2][5]

It continues the Indo-European word for water, Proto-Indo-European *wódr̥,^[1] with Hittite wātar, Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), Old Church Slavonic вода (voda), Lithuanian vanduõ and Latin unda (“wave”).^[6][3] De Vries notes the likeness of Finnish vete- and Hungarian víz, which Collinder took for a shared Indo-Uralic word.^[5]

Related Old Norse words are vátr “wet”, vetr “winter” and otr “otter”.^[5][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota's earliest record is vatni in the Norwegian fragment NRA norr fragm 81 B of 1150–1250,^[8] and IcePaHC finds vatn, vatninu and vǫtnum in the Icelandic Homily Book, which it dates 1150.^[9] Larsson lists it in the oldest Icelandic manuscripts, with compounds such as laugarvatn.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Zoëga gives water, especially fresh water, then tears, a lake, and in the plural large rivers.^[11] The tears are in halda vatni “to hold back one's tears”.^[11][12] The phrase ausa vatni “to sprinkle with water” was the pagan counterpart of baptism, at which a child was named,^[13][14] and the poetry uses vatn for the sea as well.^[15][12]

Cleasby and Vigfússon note that the genitive is spelt vatz or vaz in the old manuscripts, as it was pronounced, and that a form vatr occurs only twice in skaldic verse.^[14] The word continues as Icelandic vatn, Faroese vatn, Swedish vatten and Danish vand.^[6][4]

Timeline

• 1150–1250 – vatni in NRA norr fragm 81 B.^[8]
• 1150 – vatn, vǫtnum in the Icelandic Homily Book, by IcePaHC's dating.^[9]
• 1200–1225 – vatz, vǫtn in the Old Norwegian Homily Book, AM 619 4to.^[16]
• 1200–1225 – vatn, vatns in AM 677 4to.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. water, especially fresh water.^[11][14]
2. tears;^[11][18] halda vatni, to hold back one's tears.^[11][18]
3. a lake.^[11][18]
4. (plural) waters, large rivers.^[11][18]
5. (poetic) the sea.^[15]

Word family

• vatna
• vatnkarl
• vatnsstrǫnd
• vatnsbakki
• vatnsfata
• vatnagangr
• vatnavǫxtr
• vatnfall

Descendants

• Icelandic vatn^[1]
• Faroese vatn^[1]
• Norn vatn^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk vatn^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål vatn^[1]
• Old Swedish vatn^[1]
• Swedish vatten^[1]
• Old Danish watn^[1]
• Danish vand^[1]

Related words

• vátr
• vetr
• otr

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 575
3. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 451
4. ^ a b Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. vatten
5. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 648
6. ^ a b Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. vatn
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. vatn
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. NRA norr fragm 81 B
9. ^ a b Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9
10. ^ Larsson, Ludvig (1891), Ordförrådet i de älsta islänska handskrifterna, Lund: Ph. Lindstedt, p. 346
11. ^ a b c d e f g Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. vatn
12. ^ a b Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 855
13. ^ Tolkien, Christopher, ed. (1960), The Saga of King Heidrek the Wise, London: Nelson (glossary), p. 138
14. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 681
15. ^ a b Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 595
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 619 4to
17. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 677 4to
18. ^ a b c d Baetke, Walter (1965–1968), Wörterbuch zur altnordischen Prosaliteratur, Berlin (digital ed. Greifswald 2006), p. 703