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Article published In: NOWELE
Vol. 77:2 (2024) ► pp.87–109

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To die is ‘to run (away)’

The semantics of Proto-Germanic *daw-ja- ‘to run; to die’ from a historical and comparative perspective

 | Università Cattolica del Sacro CuoreMilano
Published online: 3 December 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/nowele.00086.gin
Abstract
Proto-Germanic *daw-ja-, the ultimate source of English to die, is here argued to have originally been a polysemous verb meaning ‘to run; to die’, corroborating its current etymological analysis as a reflex of the Proto-Indo-European root *dheu̯- ‘to run’. The proposal is supported by both well-known and previously unnoticed reflexes of the verb *daw-ja-in Gothic, Old Icelandic, and Old English, as well as by further Germanic lexical items and figurative expressions. Further support is provided by a series of semantic parallels in several Indo-European traditions, which, together with the Germanic material, reflect a well-known conceptual metaphor rooted in universal human cognition.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.A Germanic perspective
    • 2.1Gothic us-dauþs ‘in haste, eager, zealous’
    • 2.2Old Icelandic deyja í ‘to die into’
    • 2.3Old English ġe-dīġan/dȳġan/dēġan ‘to escape, survive’
    • 2.4Proto-Germanic *daw-ja- ‘to run; to die’ and *lib-ē- ‘to stay, remain; to live’
  • 3.An Indo-European perspective
    • 3.1From run to die: Ancient Greek θνῄσκω ‘to die’, Vedic pra dhánva-ti ‘to run forth; to die’, and PIE *dhenh2- ‘to run, leave’
    • 3.2From going to dying vs. from staying to living
      • 3.2.1Young Avestan iriθiie-iti ‘to die’, Old Norse líða ‘to go; to die’, and PIE *lei̯t‑ ‘to go (away)’
      • 3.2.2Old Irish baïd ‘to die’ (PIE *gu̯eh2- ‘to go, stride’) and Old Irish maraid ‘to stay, remain, live’ (PIE *merH- ‘to remain’)
    • 3.3From disappearing to dying: Hittite mer-zi ‘to disappear, vanish’ and Core Indo-European *mer- ‘to die’
  • 4.Conclusion: Proto-Germanic *daw-ja- ‘to run; to die’ and the conceptual metaphor death is departure in Indo-European
  • Notes
  • References
References (62)
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