sturtevant - initial h before l, n, r in old icelandic

7/27/2019 Sturtevant - Initial h Before l, n, r in Old Icelandic

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Linguistic Society of America

Initial h before l, n, r in Old Icelandic: A Type of Associative Consonant GroupsAuthor(s): Albert Morey SturtevantReviewed work(s):Source: Language, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Sep., 1927), pp. 169-174Published by: Linguistic Society of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/409319 .

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INITIAL h BEFORE 1, n, r IN OLD ICELANDICA TYPEOFASSOCIATIVEONSONANTROUPS1

ALBERT MOREY STURTEVANTUNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

Initialh before1,n, r disappearedn ONorw.at a preliterarydatebutwas regularlyretained n OIcel. (cf. Noreen?289). In OIcel.this ini-tial h- was often lost, oran initial h- was often addedto 1, n, r, throughassociation between wordshaving initial hl, hn, hr and wordshavinginitial 1, n, r. This associative process was due to resemblance nmeaningorin formasidefromthe initialconsonantsn question. Afterthe loss or the accretionof initial h- had becomeestablishedbetweencertainwords or wordgroupsthere developeda generalfeelingof un-certaintyas to whethera word shouldbeginwithhlor 1,hnorn, hr orr.Most cases of this type of generalconfusionarenaturallyfoundin theLate OIcel. period, yet severalinstances may be cited in the classicalperiod;which shows that the processwas even then well underway.For the classicalperiodI may mentionthe followingexamples:Hni-flungr (Elder Edda) for Niflungr, rar 'damp' (Elder Edda) for hrar,hrja for rja2 'wrestle';for the Late OIcel. period hnezla (for nezla)'button loop', hnidra(for nidra) 'to lower',redr(for hredr) 'genitals',hreifr (for reifr) 'glad', hrifsa (for rifsa) 'to rob', ringja (for hringja)'a roundpail'.The purposeof the followinganalysis is to determinethe word (orword group)with which a given form may have been associated withthe resultant loss or accretionof initial h-. Such words will be called

1Works to which reference is made throughout this paper are: Cleasby-Vig-fdsson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford, 1874. Falk and Torp, Nor-wegisches-DdnischesEtymologischesWbrterbuch,Heidelberg, 1910. Fick, August,Vergleichendes Etymologisches Wbrterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen',G6ttingen, 1909. Fritzner, Johan, Ordbogover detgamle norskesprog, Kristiania,1886. Larsson, Ludvig, Ordfdrradet dealsta isldnska handskrifterna,Lund, 1891.Noreen, Adolf, Altisldndische Grammatik4,Halle, 1923.2It is not certain which of these two formsis primarybut the greater frequencyof the formrja (without initial h-) favors this formas primary.

169


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170 ALBERT MOREY STURTEVANTassociativewords. Derivatives of a given form will not be quoted(unlessnecessary),since the formin questionwill represent he wholewordgroup.Onlyformsbelonging o the sagaperiodor to an earlierdate will betaken into consideration. For determiningwhether an initial h- isoriginalor a lateranalogicalaccretion he etymologyof the word s thefirstcriterion,butif theetymologyof the word s uncertain hen the onlycriterion s the frequencyof the initialh- especially n the oldest texts(ElderEdda,Larsson); he greater his frequency n the oldesttexts themorelikely it is that the h- is original,and vice versa. But even herewe must be cautious. For example, t is almost an assuredfact3 hatHdvamal is of WestNorwegianorigin,whichmay account,e.g., fortheloss of initial h- in the form ras (for hrds), Hav. 152, 2: a ratumras vipar.Accordingo the natureof the casethe associationspointedout in myanalysiscannotbe proved;associations a tendency,and whetherthistendencyseemsplausibleor not the meritsof each casemustdecide.

I. (h)l-1) (h)lykkr bend,curve'. The h- is herespurious. The form lykkr

< *luk-ja-R belongs to the group lfzka, lauk : luk-um, lok-inn 'to close'.For the associativeword I suggesth-lekkr(cf. OE hlence> Eng. link)'link,chain'.II. (h)n-

1) (h)neis-a shame,disgrace'. Etymologydoubtful,but neis-maybefrom *nais- < *naiss- < *nait-k- with P-extension (as in *hvat-k- >*hvass- > ON hvass, Goth. Iv-ass-(aba), cf. ON hvatr) and therefore con-nected with Goth. ga-naitjan 'anTLpav',ait-eins 'gacp La', OE naetan,OHGneizzenplagen,qudilen'.No evidenceas to the original orm of the word s offeredby the oldertexts. The word s not recordedby Larssonand occursonlyonce in theElder Edda and here in the Hayv.49. 4: neiss es n pkkvifr halr. Thelatter evidence,however, s not conclusive, ince the Hdv. I is undoubt-edly of ONorw.origin.Assuming he original ormof our wordgroupto be neis-, I suggestas the associative group h-neyk- 'disgrace';cf. h-neyk-ja 'to put toshame', h-neyk-sla 'to offend', h-neyk-slan 'offence', h-neyk-sl(i) 'dis-grace',etc.

I Cf. GeorgeT. Flom, 'A Groupof Words from Hdvamdl in the Light of ModernNorwegian and Icelandic Dialects', Scan. Studies and Notes 1. 251-73.


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INITIAL h BEFORE 1, n, r IN OLD ICELANDIC 1712) (h)ngsa 'scrutinize, examine'. The h- is here spurious; cf. njosn'spying, scouting' and Goth. bi-niuhsjan, OE njos(i)an, OS niu-

sian:niusan, OHG niusen 'to investigate, trace, try'.Associative verb is h-nj5sa 'to sniff, scent, sneeze' (cf. Falk-Torp1. 776); semantic point of contact 'to scent, get onto the trail (like adog)'. Indeed, this latter sense may possibly represent the basic ideaof Germanic *neuhs- > ON nasa: njo3sncf. Fick 299).

III. (h)r-1) (h)rasa 'to rush headlong, stumble, stagger'. The h- is here spuri-ous; cf. OE re'san

'to rush', OE re's= ON rds 'race, rushing'.Associative verbs are h-rapa 'to tumble down' and h-rata 'to totter,

stagger'. The latter verb (see below) also appeared without initial h-(rata), which fact intensified the association with rasa; cf. rasa:rata andh-rasa:h-rata.2) (h)rata 'to totter, fall'. The h- is here most probably organic; cf.Grk. Kpa8&W 'shake, swing', Skr. kfirdati 'springt, hiipft' (see Falk-Torp 2. 869, s.v. radd).Associative verb is rata (earlier vrata < Goth. wratfn) 'to wander,

journey'. The identity of form (aside from the initial h-) and thesimilarity in meaning between hrata and rata brought about an earlyassociation between the two verbs, as is shown by the fact that the verbhrata appears in the Elder Edda with and without initial h-; cf. hrataVsp. 52.3 and ratarGrp.36.2.3) (h)rifa 'to grasp, clutch; pull, pluck; scratch, pick'. The h- hereis organic; cf. OE ge-hrifnian 'to grasp, tear', IE root *(s)k(e)ribh, cf.Lat. scrib5 'to scratch, write' (see Falk-Torp 2. 906 s.v. rive 'harke,rechen').

In the sense of 'to grasp, clutch' the verb hrifa always appears withinitial h-. Only in the derived senses of 'to pull, pluck, scratch, pick',etc., does the form rifa without initial h- occur and then too, less fre-quently than does the form hrifa with initial h-.The associative verb with (h)rifa in these derived senses is rifa 'to tear(apart)' (cf. OFris. riva 'to tear', MLG riven 'to rub', etc.; see Falk-Torp 2. 906, s.v. rive 'reissen').4) (h)rj5ta 'rebound, fall; growl, roar, snore'. The h- here is organic.Evidently we have to do here with two verbs identical in form, hrjdta'tofall, plunge', etc., connected with OE hreosan 'to fall, plunge', MHGrazen 'to move hurriedly (cf. Falk-Torp 2. 924, s.v. rutte; Fick 107 s.v.hrut2) and hrj6ta 'to growl, roar, snore', etc., connected with OE hritan,


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172 ALBERT MOREYSTURTEVANTOFris. hrita, OHG razan 'to roar, growl', etc. (cf. Falk-Torp 2. 1033,s.v. skryde;Fick107,s.v. hrut1).

Only hrj5ta2 appearswithout initial h- (rjoita). As the associativeverb I suggesta lost verb *rj3ta 'to utter loud tones of distress'= OEreotan, OHG riozan < *reutan; cf. ON rgta (< *reut-jan) 'to squeal',rauta 'to roar'. Either *rjdta was blended with hrjota, resulting inhistorical rjdta alongside hrjotawith a slight semantic change (cf. Goth.wapjan 'oo&v' OE w pan 'to lament'), or we may discard an original*rjataand postulate rjta :rauta as the associative group.5) (h)rydja 'to clear out'. The h- is here spurious; PG *rud-jan > ONryd-ja = OE d-ryddan 'to rob, plunder'; *reud-an4> MHG rieten 'toclear out, destroy'; *reud-jan > OHG, MHG riuten > NHG reuten'to clear out'.

Associative verb is h-rjada 'to clear out, strip, unload (a vessel);belch, vomit'; semanticpoint of contact probably'to clean' (cf. Fick108,s.v. hrud2). Germanic*hreudanmeant 'to load, adorn';cf. theadjectival past participle ON hrodinn'painted, stained' = OE ge-hroden 'loaded, adorned', cf. also this root in extended form OE hyrst'adornment,' hyrstan 'to adorn' = OHG hrust:hrusten (NHG riisten).From the idea of 'adorn'was developedthe sense of 'to clean (out)',whence contact between ON hrj3da and rydja 'to clean out'; cf. OEge-hrodenand h-ryding 'cleared land' = ON h-ryd-n-ing 'a clearing outof the court(damr,kvidr),challenge to the neighbors)'.Probably ON (h)roda 'to throw together' also belongs to the (h)rydjagroup (*rud-5n > ON roda5 = OFris. t3-rotha,MLG roden, MHG roten'to clear out'), which accounts for the initial h-; cf. hroda with hrudning,a by-form of hrydning.4 ON rj6da is not derived from *reud-anas Falk-Torp (2. 925, s.v. rydde) and

Fick (351,s.v. rud2) maintain.In the first place, ON rj56a never occurs in the meaning 'reuten, rldumen'which these scholars attribute to it. It is not recorded in any of our ON dic-tionaries in this sense but only in the sense of 'to redden (with blood)' and there-fore should be connected with the stem *rau- 'red'; cf. ON rj6or, rau&r ruddy,red.'In the second place, ON rj6&anever appearswith initial h-, which would mostlikely have been the case if it had belonged to the (h)ry'ja group.Again, the fact that the verb hrj6&anever appearswithout initial h- indicatesthat between these two verbs, rj56a and hrj56a, there was no semantic contact,i.e. that rja6a never meant 'to clear out'; but compare (h)rycja 'to clear out':hrja6a.5The ON verb (h)ro&ais not recorded under the head of *ru6-an either byFalk-Torp (2.925, s.v. rydde)or by Fick (352,s.v. ruda).


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INITIAL h BEFORE 1, n, r IN OLD ICELANDIC 1736) (h)rmll 'a weaver's rod'. The h- is here organic; *hrah-il-a- >hrzell,*hreh-ul-a> OE hraol > Eng. reel; Grk. KpEKWI beat the loom',

K-pKLS a staff for beating the loom' (see Fick 101, s.v. hreh).As the associative word I suggest rel-ni6 'sport, play'; semantic pointof contact 'play' = 'quick motions to and fro' as in plying the loom;cf. MHG spiln 'to dart, move quickly' > 'to play' = MHG spielen, andEng. 'play (of weapons)' etc. = 'quick motion'.This assumption, however, may not be valid because of the com-paratively rare occurrence of the word relni (recorded only by Cleasby-Vigfiisson). If the word relni was of such rare occurrence that it wasnot associated with hrell, then we must explain the loss of the initialh- in hrell (rell) as due to the general confusion which obtained betweeninitial hr- and r-.

It will be seen from the above analysis that the leveling process be-tween the given groups of initial consonants has not produced a uniformresult; analogy has resulted now in the accretion, now in the loss ofinitial h-. This means that the associative process between these groupsof consonants in question was of a double or reciprocal nature, eventhough in any one given case leveling resulted in only one direction, notin both.When in the Late OIcel. period kn- and gn- passed over into hn- (cf.,e.g., knifr > hnifr; gneggja > hneggja) the frequency of initial hn- wasthereby increased to such an extent as to affect the leveling betweeninitial hn- and n- in favor of hn-. The resultant victory of initial hn-over n- then had its effect upon the two other groups of initial conso-nants (hl-:1- and hr-:r-), resulting in the leveling in favor of hl- and hr-over 1- and r-. That is to say that in Mod. Icel. the original reciprocal

analogy has finally resulted almost entirely in one direction, i.e. infavor of initial h-.In the OIcel. period, on the other hand, the reciprocal nature7 of the6 Fritzner records a verb rela but with uncertain meaning, so that this verbcannot be utilized in our discussion.In WGerm. this reciprocal relation is not so inuch in evidence because hereat the very earliest period a tendency existed for initial h- to disappear before1, n, r, whereas in OIcel. initial h- regularly remained (and still remains in Mod.Icel.) before 1, n, r.In OHG (cf. Braune, Ahd. Gramm.4 1531'when this tendency first appeared,

the reciprocal nature of the analogy was still in evidence; cf., e.g., in the Hilde-brandslied, wer, welihhes, werdar, ringa without initial h- (which still existed be-fore w and r, as the alliteration shows) and gi-h-ueit, bi-h-rahanen,h-ramen with


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174 ALBERT MOREY STURTEVANTassociative process was still strongly in evidence. Of the nine caseswhich I have recorded, five show an accretion and four a loss of originalinitial h-. Those showing accretion of initial h- are h-lykka, h-neisa,h-ngsa, h-rasa; those showing a loss of original h- are (h)rata, (h)rifa,(h)rj3ta and (h)rzell. This does not, however, take into account the fargreater number of cases where initial h- was either lost or added becauseof the general confusion between the consonant groups in question.spurious initial h-. Later when initial h- before these consonants disappeared,the tendency to add an initial h- before these consonants correspondingly de-creased.

For conditions in OE, see Siever's Angs. Gramm.3 2171-2;n OS,see Holthausen,As. Gramm.2 217; n both these dialects the reciprocal relation was about the sameas in OHG.As an example of spurious initial h- due to association with a definite word(parallel to the cases which I have pointed out in OIcel.) I may mention MHG(h)eischen (> NHG heischen) 'to demand'; associative word heizen 'to command'.

sturtevant - initial h before l, n, r in old icelandic

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