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Of Lambkins And Piglets In Old English And Beyond
Author(s) -
Stiles Patrick V.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
transactions of the philological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.333
H-Index - 26
eISSN - 1467-968X
pISSN - 0079-1636
DOI - 10.1111/1467-968x.12121
Subject(s) - adjective , nominative case , linguistics , noun , verb , root (linguistics) , sequence (biology) , philosophy , history , literature , mathematics , art , biology , genetics
It is suggested that the Old English adjectives ge ‐ ēan and ge ‐ cealf , each attested once in the same passage, could refer not only to pregnant livestock but also to mothers with their newborn young (as proposed by Osthoff in 1895). The twice occurring sequence gefearh sugu , which is usually taken to be a compound, is here analysed as consisting of a third such adjective used attributively before the noun; as the feminine nominative singular of a heavy‐syllabled adjective, it is endingless. This appears to be a return to an earlier view. A fourth example, ge ‐ fol , recorded once, is also discussed. The formation of these adjectives is briefly treated, as is the PG mc noun * auna ‐ “lamb” presupposed by the first adjective, together with its presumed relationship to Latin agnus and further cognates. Evidence for the derived class II weak verb * aunôn (reflected in OE ēanian *) in the Germanic languages is presented.