þreagan
Old English
Alternative forms
Etymology
The forms imply contraction from pre-Old English *þrauhōjan,[1] although it is difficult to find cognates in Germanic that confirm the reconstructed *h.[2] See also *þrawōną and *þrawjaną.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈθræ͜ɑː.jɑn/
Verb
þrēaġan
Conjugation
Conjugation of þrēaġan (weak, class 2)
| infinitive | þrēaġan | þrēaġenne |
|---|---|---|
| indicative mood | present tense | past tense |
| first person singular | þrēaġe | þrēade |
| second person singular | þrēast | þrēadest |
| third person singular | þrēaþ | þrēade |
| plural | þrēaġaþ | þrēadon |
| subjunctive | present tense | past tense |
| singular | þrēaġe | þrēade |
| plural | þrēaġen | þrēaden |
| imperative | ||
| singular | þrēa | |
| plural | þrēaġaþ | |
| participle | present | past |
| þrēaġende | (ġe)þrēad | |
Synonyms
Derived terms
Related terms
References
- ^ Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 360: “pre-OE *þrauhōjan”
- ^ Fulk, R.D. (1992), A History of Old English Meter, page 96:
- H. M. Flasdieck derives the verb þrēagan from *þrauhōjan, and this seems now to be the consensus: see Flasdieck's "Untersuchungen über die germanischen schwachen Verben III. Klasse (unter besonderer Berücksichtigung des Altenglischen)," Anglia 59 (1935), 1-192 at 40; and cf. Campbell, §235.2, and Brunner, §415d. This position is debatable because there is no h in closely related forms, and Flasdieck must go as far afield as OIcel. þrúga (presumably with voicing under Verner's law) to find evidence of a form with h. Still, otherwise it would be difficult to account for the fact that þreagan resembles smēagan rather than þrōwigean. There is an exact cognate in OSax. githrōon, but this furnishes no help, since intervocalic h is also lost in that language. This verse in Genesis A constitutes evidence for Flasdieck's position, since geðrēad here would give a metrically peculiar type if it were derived from *giþrawōd-. Disregarding forms of this verb would not alter the support of the statistics for the presumed chronology.
Further reading
- Hogg, Richard; Fulk, R. D. (2011), A Grammar of Old English, volume 2: Morphology, Oxford: Blackwell, →ISBN, page 286: “Like smēaġan is þrēaġan (beside þrēan) ‘afflict’, to both of which analogical present stems smēagian, þrēagian were constructed.”