STUDIES IN GERMANIC STRONG VERBS.

These studies, which are preliminary to a book on Germanic Strong Verbs to be published later, will discuss strong verbs that have not been fully or satisfactorily explained. No distinction is here made between originally strong verbs and those that became strong by analogy.

1. BIDAN

Goth. beidan c, gen. 'auf etwas warten, etwas erwarten,' gabeidan tr. 'dulden, ertragen,' ON. bíða 'warten; c. gen. warten auf jemand oder auf etwas; tr. durch Warten erlangen, erreichen; erdulden, ertragen,' etc., have long been counected with Gk. Teίow, Lat. fido. But this connection has of late been doubted. So Uhlenbeck, Et. Wb.' 26; Walde, Et. Wb. 222, who says: "Zwei-, felhaft ist die Zugehörigkeit von got. beidan ‘erwarten'. . . wegen der anzunehmenden Bedeutungsentwickelung von 'sich fügen machen,' intr. 'sich fügen,' zu 'warten.'" If we had to assume such a development in meaning, connection between beidan and Telow would be more than doubtful.

To get at the primary meaning of Germ. bidan, let us see how it is used: (1) Absolutely meaning 'wait, remain, continue;' (2) with gen. or prep. 'await, wait for;' (3) tr. 'endure, bear.' The transitive meaning is especially instructive: Goth. gabeidan 'Vπоμévav, ertragen,' ON. bíða erlangen; ertragen,' OE. bidan 'endure,' MHG. gebiten erhalten, bewahren.' Notice also OE. bid 'halt,' on bid wrecan 'make to halt, bring to bay,' MHG. bit(e) 'Stillhalten, Verweilen,' beite 'Hinhalten, Zögern,' etc.

From this we may infer for bidan the primary meaning 'hold,' whence tr. 'hold, bear, endure, sustinere, ertragen; intr. hold, hold on, hinhalten, still halten.' A striking parallel between the use of Lat. sustinere and bidan occurs in OLFr. Psalm 68, 21: ik beid, thie samon gidruovit uuirthi, inde ne was, which translates sustinui, qui simul contristaretur, et non fuit. Compare also OHG. haltan 'halten, erhalten, festhalten; intr. still halten.'

As halten comes from the primary meaning drive: Skt. kaláyati 'treibt, hält, trägt,' Gk. Kéλλw 'drive,' kéλоμаι urge on,' etc.; so also Germ. bidan 'halten, erhalten, ertragen; still halten, verweilen, warten' goes back to a base bheidh- 'drive, urge,' which is the underlying meaning in Gk. Telow. For it is evident from the way in which Telow is used that it could not have meant originally either 'persuadeo' or 'überrede,' but rather 'urge, impel, compel, convince, force.' E. g. 'impel, stir up' (Ovéλλas), Il. 15, 26; 'force, compel, make to obey,' Il. 9, 345, etc. From 'urge, compel' naturally came 'prevail on, convince, cause to yield, persuade,' and in the passive, 'yield, comply, obey, be convinced, believe, trust, etc.'

From Teow 'impel, compel, convince, persuade' we certainly do not need to separate Goth. baidjan 'zwingen, gebieten,' ON. beiða 'nötigen, auffordern; bitten, begehren,' OE. badan ‘compel; urge on, incite; solicit, require; afflict, repress,' OHG. beiten 'antreiben, drängen; fordern; führen; refl. c. gen. wagen; intr. sich drängen,' ChSl. běditi 'zwingen,' běda 'Not,' Alb. be 'Eid, Schwur,' with which compare Lat. foedus 'league, compact,' and OE. bad pledge, thing distrained.'

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2. BRIDAN

MHG. *briden 'flechten, weben' is usually assumed on account of the pp. gebriten, gebreten (cf. Wilmanns, DGr. I, 38; Paul, Mhd. Gr. 69, etc.). The inf. is better written brīten, if indeed we may assume any inf. at all. For the word is identical with OHG. bretten 'stringere, ziehen, zücken; weben,' OS. bregdan 'flechten,' etc. MHG. *briden or *briten corresponds to OFries. brīda ziehen' from *brigdan. The loss of g with lengthening of i to occurs also in OE. bridel, OHG. bridel, MHG. bridel, britel 'Zügel' beside OHG. brittil 'Zügel,' brittolon 'frenare.'

3. DIKAN

MHG. tichen 'schaffen, treiben, ins Werk setzen, fördern; büssen,' erlichen 'büssen.' This corresponds to the MLG. weak verb diken 'büssen, wieder gut machen.' Whether this verb was originally strong or weak it is impossible to tell. Here probably

belong OHG. tihtōn, MHG. tihten 'erfinden und schaffen, hervorbringen, ersinnen, ins Werk setzen, anstiften, machen, abfassen, dichten,' OE. dihtan 'direct, command, arrange; compose, write,' diht 'direction, command; arranging, ordering; administration, office, action, conduct; purpose, intention,' MDu., MLG. dichten, whence ON. dikta 'dichten, ersinnen.' The wide variety of meanings in these words, and the close similarity with MHG. tichen point to Germ. origin with later confusion with Lat. dictāre, which probably took its late meaning 'verfassen' from the Germ.

The base dheig- of the above is a byform of dheigh- in Goth. digan 'kneten, aus Thon formen.' Compare especially Lat. fingo 'form, fashion, make; mold; adorn, dress, arrange, direct; devise, contrive, invent, feign, etc.' These meanings are strikingly similar to those of MHG. tichen and tihten.

It is not impossible that

Lat. fingo represents both dheigh- and dheig-.

4. FLIHWAN, FLIHAN

OS. *flihan 'versöhnen' may be assumed from giflihid C 1460, gefliit M 1460, and from the corresponding strong verb in MLG. vlien, vligen ordnen, fügen, einrichten, in die Reihe bringen, schichtweise legen, stellen, setzen; Streitende versöhnen, einen Streit schlichten, etc.,' NHG. (north German) fleihen 'put in order, arrange; fold.' Here belong MLG. vlege ‘Ordnung, Einrichtung, Schlichtung, Beilegung eines Zwistes; Schmückung, Putz,' MHG. vlie 'Ordnung,' ON. fló 'Schicht' from *flaihwō or flai(g)wo, flgia 'schichtweise belegen.' Compare Gk. Tλioow 'stretch out, stride,' λíğıs ‘a stretching out; span-measure; striding;' ON. flíka 'stretch out,' base pleik, pleig- 'stretch out, spread out: put in order, arrange, etc.'

This is probably a derivative of a simpler base plei- in Lith. atsi-plaitau 'sich breit machen,' Lett. plītēt 'plätten, schlagen,' Lith. plynas 'eben, frei,' plyne, pleine ‘eine weite, baumlose Ebene.' A synonymous base pelā- also occurs.

5. FLITAN

OE. flitan 'contend, struggle, quarrel,' OS. flitan 'wetteifern,' OHG. flizan 'eifrig sein, Fleiss und Sorgfalt anwenden, sich

befleissigen' etc., may be referred to a base pleid- 'stretch out: aim at, strive for, contend, etc.,' from plei- in Lith. atsi-plaitau 'sich breit machen,' Gk. #λíoow 'stretch out, stride,' ON. flíka ausspannen, ausdehnen; prahlen,' etc. (cf. no. 4). That plei'stretch out' should develop in opposite directions is nothing unusual. For this change in meaning compare Lat. tendo 'stretch, stretch out: aim, strive, go; exert oneself in opposition, strive, try, contend,' contendo 'stretch out, strain: strive, dispute, fight, vie with;' Gk. opéyw 'stretch, stretch out: stride; reach for, desire; reach at, aim a blow at,' Lat. rego 'guide, conduct, direct; sway, rule,' Av. rāzayeiti 'ordnet.' These combine the meanings in Gk. Míoow 'stretch out, stride,' diarioow 'stretch out, spread out, unfold, mid. stride, stalk,' MLG. vlien 'ordnen, einrichten, schlichten' and in OE. flitan 'contendere,' etc.

The connection of flītan, assuming a pre-Germ. base *tleid-, with Lat. stlis 'strife, dispute' (cf. author, Americana Germanica III, 315) I long ago discarded.

6. GLIPAN

Sw. dial. glipa 'be open,' MHG. glifen 'schräge, abschüssig sein' are from a Germ. strong verb *glipan 'slip, slant; fall away, sink, open.' Related words are Sw. dial. glip ‘gap, opening, chasm,' Norw. dial. glīp, glīpa 'opening,' ON. gleipa 'schwatzen,' i. e. 'klaffen,' MLG. glepe, 'glippe Ritze, Spalt,' glippen 'gleiten, glipfen,' glipperich, glibberich 'schlüpfrig,' glepe, gleppe, MHG. gleif 'schief, schräge,' gleif 'das Abschüssige,' gleifen 'schräge sein, hin und her irren,' glipfen 'gleiten,' NE. glib, etc.

According to Falk og Torp, Et. Ordbog I, 235, these are related to Germ. slīpan 'slip.' Aside from the fact that this connection is based on a theory that is unproved and unprovable, Germ. slīpan may be referred to a base selei- in Lith. seleti 'schleichen,' selejimas das Schleichen;' Ir. slemain 'lubricus,' OE. slim 'slime;' Lett. slipt 'gleiten, schief werden,' NE. dial. slive 'sneak;' OHG. slihhan 'schleichen;' Lith. slekas 'Regenwurm;' OE. slidan 'slide,' etc. (cf. author AJP. 24, 45 ff.).

For Germ. glipan we may assume a base ghlei- on account of OE. glidan 'glide,' etc., Norw. dial. gleina 'open place,' which, in the developed meaning 'fall away, give way, become soft' is in Gk. xλíw 'become soft or warm, be delicate, luxuriate,' xλɩdń 'softness, delicacy, luxury, voluptuousness,' xλdáw 'be soft or delicate, live softly, revel,' xλidavós 'soft, delicate, voluptuous,' etc. These meanings are based on 'softness' not 'warmness,' the latter coming from the former. So they cannot be connected with OS. glītan 'gleissen,' as is frequently done.

The base ghlei- 'slip, fall away,' etc., comes perhaps from gha*l- in Gk. xaλáw 'slacken, loosen; let down, let sink; become slack; gape open, stand open; leave off, cease from; give way or yield to, be indulgent to,' etc., xaλapós 'slack, loose,' Ir. galar 'Krankheit, Kummer,' ON. galle Fehler, Mangel, Schaden;' glata 'verlieren, verderben,' OE. gylt 'fault, guilt;' Lith. glèbti 'weich werden, zerfliessen,' ON. glap 'flaw,' glópr 'idiot,' gløpr 'crime,' etc. (cf. IE. a*: a*i: a*u 108).

7. HRĪTAN: RITAN: WRITAN

Germ. hritan and writan are well authenticated; *ritan is doubtful but possible. With initial hr- occurs OS. hritan 'schreiben.' Identical with this may be MLG., MDu. rīten 'reissen' (by the side of MLG. writen 'ritzen, schreiben'), NFries. rīt 'reissen,' OHG. rīzan ‘reissen' (though this may be for *wrizzan). To these may be related ON. rista 'ritzen' (which may have lost initial h- on account of the synonymous rita), OSw. rista, MLG. risten 'ritzen' (neither of which could have had initial wr-, but both could come from hr-), OSw. rēta 'reizen,' OHG. reizzen, reizen.

Germ. hrītan is from a pre-Germ. base qrei-d-, with which compare Gk. dia-кpidóv 'separately,' «pívw 'separate, distinguish,' Keiρw 'cut,' ChSl. kroiti 'schneiden,' Lett. krijāt 'schinden,' OE. hrician 'cut, cut to pieces,' etc. (IE. a: afi: a*u 88).

Germ. writan 'ritzen, schreiben' occurs in OE., OS. writan, MLG. writen, OFries. wrīta, and probably in ON. rita, OHG rizan. Related are Goth. writs 'Strich,' OE. writ, ON. rit