heahfore

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

This first element of this word is customarily identified with hēah (“tall, high”), beginning with Franciscus Junius's 17th-century Etymologicum Anglicanum[1][2]; the remainder is now usually held to be from either faru (“journey”) or fearr (“bull”), though the latter is less likely.[3][4]

Discussion of Liberman's alternative etymology

Liberman instead suggests that this compound is from *hæg- (“pen”, see haga) + -fore (“inhabitant”),[5] However, this etymology fails to explain the phonological shape of this word (a long vowel is required by Middle English forms in /ɛː/, while *hæg should become palatalised *hæġ, which would stymy breaking of /æ/ and devoicing of <h> /x/. Additionally, this palatalisation would create an open syllable, resulting in /f/ being voiced to /v/), while his putative suffix -fore lacks a clear etymology and is not securely attested (elver is simply Middle English el (“eel”) +‎ fare (“group of journeyers”); the word originally referred to a group of young eels). Furthermore, Liberman's semantic objections to the traditional etymology do not hold water. Old English hēah can mean "tall", and faran already means "to live (in a specified way)"; the word would simply mean "one who lives (while being) tall", originally being a generic term for any adult cow.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈxæ͜ɑːx.fo.re/, [ˈhæ͜ɑːx.fo.re]

Noun

hēahfore f

  1. heifer

Declension
Declension of heahfore (weak)
Case Singular Plural
nominative hēahfore hēahforan
accusative hēahforan hēahforan
genitive hēahforan hēahforena
dative hēahforan hēahforum

Descendants

References
  1. Franciſcus Junius Franciſcus filius (a. 1677), “Haifer”, in Edwardus Lye, editor, Etymologicum Anglicanum, Oxonia: Theatrum Sheldonianum, published 1743, page 249
  2. Alan Brown (1972), “Heifer”, in Neophilologus, volume 56, issue 1, DOI:10.1007/bf01740499, pages 79–85
  3. James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Heifer”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume V (H–K), London: Clarendon Press, OCLC 15566697, page 195, column 1.
  4. “heifer”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
  5. Anatoly Liberman (2008), “heifer”, in An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, pages 101-5.
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