From: alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson)
Subject: Re: Surprising cognates
Originator: alderson@leland.Stanford.EDU
Reply-To: alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson)
Organization: Stanford University Academic Information Resources
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 92 20:33:54 GMT

In article <1992Dec9.153824.4488@memstvx1.memst.edu>, connolly@memstvx1 writes:
>In article <1992Dec9.185328.18592@leland.Stanford.EDU>, alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson) writes:

>>You have to leave out the English word; according to my Webster program,
>>"wight" in the meaning "valiant, skilled in fighting" is borrowed from one of
>>the Scandinavian languages, and therefore does not count as a cognate.
>
>This is strange if true: Germanic /ht/ regularly went to /tt/ in Old Norse,
>apparently at a rather early date.  The English spelling -ght is normally
>found only where earlier English had [xt], which in Old English was spelled
><ht>.  It is true that there are some aberrations and outright errors,
>so that French _deliter_ < Latin _delectare_, when borrowed into English
>was ultimately respelled _delight_ for no very good reason.  Barring some
>such foul-up, the spelling of _wight_ indicates native English origin
>rather than borrowing from Norse_.
>
>I gather that someone's dictionary and your "Webster program" disagree.
>Orthography is on the other guy's side.  I myself have no opinion in
>the matter.

The citation from the Webster program in question follows, to provide data for
the discussion:

[PHOTO:  Recording initiated  Thu 10-Dec-92 9:40AM]

@webster
Word: wight
           _
1 wight \'wit\ n [ME, creature, thing, fr. OE wiht; akin to OHG wiht creature,
  thing, OSlav ves{hachek}ti{breve} thing] : a living being : CREATURE 
                                              _
2 wight adj [ME, of Scand origin; akin to ON vigr skilled in fighting (neut. 
   _                 _
  vigt); akin to OE wigan to fight -- more at VICTOR] archaic : VALIANT, 
  STALWART 

Word: victor
vic.tor \'vik-t*r\ n [ME, fr. L, fr. victus, pp. of vincere to conquer, win; 
              _
  akin to OE wigan to fight, OSlav ve{hachek}ku{breve} strength] : one that 
  defeats an enemy or opponent : WINNER -- victor adj 

Word: week
        _
week \'wek\ n [ME weke, fr. OE wicu, wucu; akin to OHG wehha week, L vicis 
                           _
  change, alternation, OE wir wire -- more at WIRE]  1 a : one of a series of 
  seven-day cycles used in various calendars  b (1) : a week beginning with a 
  specified day or containing a specified holiday <the ~ of the 18th> <Easter 
  ~>  (2) : a week appointed for public recognition of some cause <Fire 
  Prevention Week>  2 a : any seven consecutive days  b : a series of regular 
  working, business, or school days during each seven-day period  3 : a time 
  seven days before or after a specified day 

Word: wire
          _                                   _
1 wire \'wi(*)r\ n, often attrib [ME, fr. OE wir; akin to OHG wiara fine gold,
      _
  L viere to plait, Gk iris rainbow]  1 a : metal in the form of a usu. very 
  flexible thread or slender rod  b : a thread or rod of such material
	<remainder of definitions deleted>

Word: weak
        _                                            _
weak \'wek\ adj [ME weike, fr. ON veikr; akin to OE wican to yield, L vicis 
  change -- more at WEEK]  1 : lacking strength : as  a : deficient in 
  physical vigor : FEEBLE, DEBILITATED  b : not able to sustain or exert much 
  weight, pressure, or strain  c : not able to resist external force or 
  withstand attack
	<remainder of definitions deleted>
  
Word: ^C
@pop

[PHOTO:  Recording terminated Thu 10-Dec-92 9:41AM]

Now in the citation for wight(2), the Icelandic neuter form vi:gt is given.  If
this were the late OE/early ME form borrowed, I would not be surprised at the
spelling with <gh> in English.

I also included the citation for "week" since it was related to the original
question, and the homophone "weak" since it is in the semantic range of the
word "wight(2)."  Because of the cross-reference, I've also included "wire."

I'm not overly impressed with the posited relationship among week, weak, and
wire, but until I can get to an OED or something else turstworthy, I can't
argue more than "I don't like a Latin /k/ matching up with an OE /k/."
-- 
Rich Alderson   'I wish life was not so short,' he thought.  'Languages take
                such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about.'
                                                        --J. R. R. Tolkien,
alderson@leland.stanford.edu                              _The Lost Road_
Newsgroups: sci.lang