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Initial h before l, n, r in Old Icelandic: A Type of Associative Consonant Groups Author(s): Albert Morey Sturtevant Reviewed work(s): Source: Language, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Sep., 1927), pp. 169-174 Published by: Linguistic Society of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/409319 . Accessed: 29/12/2011 05:14
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INITIAL h BEFORE 1, n, r IN OLD ICELANDIC

A TYPE OF ASSOCIATIVE CONSONANT GROUPS1

ALBERT MOREY STURTEVANT
UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS

in ONorw. at a preliterary Initial h before1,n, r disappeared date but was regularlyretainedin OIcel. (cf. Noreen ?289). In OIcel. this initial h- was often lost, or an initial h- was often addedto 1,n, r, through association between words having initial hl, hn, hr and words having initial 1, n, r. This associative process was due to resemblancein in question. After meaningor in form asidefromthe initial consonants the loss or the accretionof initial h- had become establishedbetween certainwords or word groups there developeda generalfeeling of uncertaintyas to whethera wordshouldbeginwith hl or 1,hn or n, hr or r. Most cases of this type of general confusionare naturallyfound in the Late OIcel. period, yet several instances may be cited in the classical period;which shows that the process was even then well under way. For the classical period I may mention the following examples:Hniflungr (Elder Edda) for Niflungr, rar 'damp' (Elder Edda) for hrar, hrja for rja2 'wrestle'; for the Late OIcel. period hnezla (for nezla) hreifr (for reifr) 'glad', hrifsa (for rifsa) 'to rob', ringja (for hringja)

'button loop', hnidra (for nidra) 'to lower', redr (for hredr)'genitals',

'a roundpail'. The purposeof the following analysis is to determinethe word (or word group) with which a given form may have been associatedwith the resultant loss or accretionof initial h-. Such words will be called
1Works to which reference is made throughout this paper are: Cleasby-Vigfdsson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford, 1874. Falk and Torp, NorHeidelberg, 1910. Fick, August, wegisches-DdnischesEtymologisches Wbrterbuch, Vergleichendes Etymologisches Wbrterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen', G6ttingen, 1909. Fritzner, Johan, Ordbogover det gamle norske sprog, Kristiania, i de alsta isldnska handskrifterna,Lund, 1891. 1886. Larsson, Ludvig, Ordfdrradet Noreen, Adolf, Altisldndische Grammatik4, Halle, 1923. 2 It is not certain which of these two forms is primary but the greater frequency of the form rja (without initial h-) favors this form as primary. 169

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associativewords. Derivatives of a given form will not be quoted (unlessnecessary),since the form in questionwill representthe whole wordgroup. Only forms belongingto the saga periodor to an earlierdate will be taken into consideration. For determiningwhether an initial h- is originalor a later analogicalaccretionthe etymologyof the wordis the then the only firstcriterion,but if the etymologyof the wordis uncertain criterionis the frequencyof the initial h- especiallyin the oldest texts (ElderEdda, Larsson);the greaterthis frequencyin the oldest texts the more likely it is that the h- is original,and vice versa. But even here we must be cautious. For example,it is almost an assuredfact3that I is of West Norwegianorigin,whichmay account,e.g., for the Hdvamal
loss of initial h- in the form ras (for hrds), Hav. 152, 2: a ratum ras vipar.

to the natureof the case the associationspointedout in my According analysis cannot be proved;associationis a tendency, and whether this tendencyseemsplausibleor not the meritsof each casemust decide.
I. (h)l-

1) (h)lykkr'bend, curve'. The h- is here spurious. The form lykkr

< *luk-ja-R belongs to the group lfzka, lauk : luk-um, lok-inn 'to close'.

For the associativeword I suggest h-lekkr(cf. OE hlence> Eng. link) 'link,chain'.

II. (h)n-

1) (h)neis-a'shame,disgrace'. Etymology doubtful,but neis- may be

from *nais- < *naiss- < *nait-k- with P-extension (as in *hvat-k- > *hvass- > ON hvass, Goth. Iv-ass-(aba), cf. ON hvatr) and therefore connait-eins 'gacp La', OE nected with Goth. ga-naitjan 'anTLpav', naetan,

OHG neizzen'plagen,qudilen'. No evidenceas to the originalform of the wordis offeredby the older texts. The wordis not recorded by Larssonand occursonly once in the
Elder Edda and here in the Hayv.49. 4: neiss es n pkkvifr halr. The

latter evidence,however,is not conclusive,since the Hdv. I is undoubtedly of ONorw.origin. Assumingthe originalform of our word groupto be neis-, I suggest as the associative group h-neyk- 'disgrace';cf. h-neyk-ja 'to put to
shame', h-neyk-sla 'to offend', h-neyk-slan 'offence', h-neyk-sl(i) 'dis-

grace',etc.
I Cf. George T. Flom, 'A Group of Words from HdvamdlI in the Light of Modern Norwegian and Icelandic Dialects', Scan. Studies and Notes 1. 251-73.

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2) (h)ngsa 'scrutinize, examine'. The h- is here spurious; cf. njosn 'spying, scouting' and Goth. bi-niuhsjan, OE njos(i)an, OS niusian:niusan, OHG niusen 'to investigate, trace, try'. Associative verb is h-nj5sa 'to sniff, scent, sneeze' (cf. Falk-Torp 1. 776); semantic point of contact 'to scent, get onto the trail (like a dog)'. Indeed, this latter sense may possibly represent the basic idea of Germanic *neuhs- > ON nasa: njo3sn (cf. Fick 299). III. (h)r1) (h)rasa 'to rush headlong, stumble, stagger'. The h- is here spuri= ON rds 'race, rushing'. 'to rush', OE ous; cf. OE re's re'san verbs are h-rapa 'to tumble down' and h-rata 'to totter, Associative stagger'. The latter verb (see below) also appeared without initial h(rata), which fact intensified the association with rasa; cf. rasa:rata and h-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 FalkTorp 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 the similarity in meaning between hrata and rata brought about an early association between the two verbs, as is shown by the fact that the verb hrata appears in the Elder Edda with and without initial h-; cf. hrata Vsp. 52.3 and ratar Grp. 36.2. 3) (h)rifa 'to grasp, clutch; pull, pluck; scratch, pick'. The h- here is 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 with initial 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 frequently 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 FalkTorp 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 'to fall, plunge', etc., connected with OE hreosan 'to fall, plunge', MHG razen 'to move hurriedly (cf. Falk-Torp 2. 924, s.v. rutte; Fick 107 s.v. hrut 2) and hrj6ta 'to growl, roar, snore', etc., connected with OE hritan,

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ALBERTMOREYSTURTEVANT

s.v. skryde;Fick 107, s.v. hrut1). Only hrj5ta2 appears without initial h- (rjoita). As the associative verb I suggest a lost verb *rj3ta 'to utter loud tones of distress' = OE
reotan, OHG riozan < *reutan; cf. ON rgta (< *reut-jan) 'to squeal', rauta 'to roar'. Either *rjdta was blended with hrjota, resulting in historical rjdta alongside hrjota with 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 > ON ryd-ja = OE d-ryddan 'to rob, plunder'; *reud-an4> MHG rieten 'to clear out, destroy'; *reud-jan > OHG, MHG riuten > NHG reuten

OFris. hrita, OHG razan 'to roar, growl', etc. (cf. Falk-Torp 2. 1033,

'to clear out'.

Associative verb is h-rjada 'to clear out, strip, unload (a vessel);

belch, vomit'; semantic point of contact probably 'to clean' (cf. Fick meant 'to load, adorn'; cf. the 108, s.v. hrud2). Germanic*hreudan adjectival past participle ON hrodinn 'painted, stained' = OE gehroden '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. OE
ge-hrodenand h-ryding 'cleared land' = ON h-ryd-n-ing 'a clearing out

of the court (damr,kvidr),challenge(to the neighbors)'.

Probably ON (h)roda 'to throw together' also belongs to the (h)rydja group (*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-an as Falk-Torp (2. 925, s.v. rydde) and Fick (351, s.v. rud 2) 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 dictionaries in this sense but only in the sense of 'to redden (with blood)' and therefore should be connected with the stem *rau- 'red'; cf. ON rj6or, rau&r'ruddy, red.' In the second place, ON rj6&anever appears with initial h-, which would most likely have been the case if it had belonged to the (h)ry'ja group. Again, the fact that the verb hrj6&anever appears without initial h- indicates that 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 by Falk-Torp (2. 925, s.v. rydde) or by Fick (352, s.v. ruda).

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6) (h)rmll 'a weaver's rod'. The h- is here organic; *hrah-il-a- > 'I beat the loom', hrzell, *hreh-ul-a > OE hraol > Eng. reel; Grk. KpEKW the Fick loom' 'a staff for s.v. beating (see 101, hreh). K-pKLS As the associative word I suggest rel-ni6 'sport, play'; semantic point of contact 'play' = 'quick motions to and fro' as in plying the loom; cf. MHG spiln 'to dart, move quickly' > 'to play' = MHG spielen, and Eng. 'play (of weapons)' etc. = 'quick motion'. This assumption, however, may not be valid because of the comparatively rare occurrence of the word relni (recorded only by CleasbyVigfiisson). If the word relni was of such rare occurrence that it was not associated with hrell, then we must explain the loss of the initial h- in hrell (rell) as due to the general confusion which obtained between initial hr- and r-. It will be seen from the above analysis that the leveling process between the given groups of initial consonants has not produced a uniform result; analogy has resulted now in the accretion, now in the loss of initial h-. This means that the associative process between these groups of consonants in question was of a double or reciprocal nature, even though in any one given case leveling resulted in only one direction, not in 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- was thereby increased to such an extent as to affect the leveling between initial hn- and n- in favor of hn-. The resultant victory of initial hnover n- then had its effect upon the two other groups of initial consonants (hl-:1- and hr-: r-), resulting in the leveling in favor of hl- and hrover 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. in favor of initial h-. In the OIcel. period, on the other hand, the reciprocal nature7 of the
6 Fritzner records a verb rela but with uncertain meaning, so that this verb cannot be utilized in our discussion. In WGerm. this reciprocal relation is not so inuch in evidence because here at the very earliest period a tendency existed for initial h- to disappear before 1, 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 when this tendency first appeared, ?1531' the reciprocal nature of the analogy was still in evidence; cf., e.g., in the Hildebrandslied, wer, welihhes, werdar, ringa without initial h- (which still existed before w and r, as the alliteration shows) and gi-h-ueit, bi-h-rahanen, h-ramen with

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associative process was still strongly in evidence. Of the nine cases which I have recorded, five show an accretion and four a loss of original initial 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 far greater number of cases where initial h- was either lost or added because of 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 decreased. in OS, see Holthausen, For conditions in OE, see Siever's Angs. Gramm.3 ?2171-2; As. Gramm.2 ?217;in both these dialects the reciprocal relation was about the same as 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'.