Y- prefix. World English Historical Dictionary

Y- prefix. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1928, rev. 2024. Y- prefix (1 ʓi-, ʓe-, ʓæ-, ʓie-, ʓy-, 1–2 ie-, 2–3 ȝe-, 2–5 i-, hi-, 4–7 dial. e-, 3– now dial. a-, now arch. y-) represents OE. ʓe-, earlier (and Northumb.) ʓi-, = OFris. gi-, ge-, ie-, e-, a-, OS. gi-, ge-, i-, MLG., MDu. ge-, ghe-, locally i-, y-, e-, (LG., Du. ge-), OHG. ga-, ka-, gi-, ki-, ge-, (MHG., G. ge-, dial. je-, also gi-, ga-), Goth. ga- :— OTeut. *ga- The parallelism of formation and meaning exemplified by such forms as L. commūnis and Goth. gamains, OE. gemǽne common, I-MENE, L. convenīre and Goth. gaqiman to assemble, L. conticēre and Goth. gaþahan to be silent, L. commemini and Goth. gamunan, OE. ʓemunan to remember, L. conferre and Goth. gabaíran to compare, has suggested the probability of the etymological identity of Teut. ga- with L. co-, com-, and some scholars have accepted this on the assumption that Verner’s law operated in some instances of initial consonants. (L. com- is normally represented by ham- in OFrank. hamêdii, synonymous with OHG. geido, MHG. geeide conspirator.)

1   The original form ga- is the only one found in Gothic (e.g., galeiks YLIKE); it was preserved also in OHG. (e.g., galîh), continued in MHG., and survives in a few words in some German dialects. The weakened (unstressed) form gi- was the prevailing one in OHG. and OS. and is the earliest form recorded in OFris. and OE., but it was early reduced to ge- in the whole of the Low German and High German area. In Scandinavian the prefix had disappeared entirely in prehistoric times as a living element, but relics of it remained in ON. glíkr YLIKE, gnógr ENOUGH, greiðr GRAITH a. (cf. READY).

2   The phonetic changes of OE. ʓe-, resulting in its complete disappearance in modern English as a living formative except in certain dialects, are in general paralleled in most of the LG. (as opposed to the HG.) dialects. While in HG. the vowel of the prefix not uncommonly underwent syncopation, which has become permanent (to the obscuration of the origin) in certain words, as G. gleich (OHG. ga-, gi-, gelîk) like (YLIKE), gnade (OHG. ginâda, OS. ginâtha, nâtha, Du. genade, ON. náð), in LG. dialects, on the other hand, there was a tendency for the consonant to fall, leaving i- or e-, in some dialects a-; e.g., OS. unimetes ‘aliquid incommodum,’ MLG. ilétene, pa. pple. of léten to permit, medeselle (cf. G. mitgesell) companion, enaugh enough, eschein (cf. G. geschehen) happened, MDu. idaen done, idragen drawn, yslagen slain, Du. dial. ivallig weak, OFris. idein done, islein slain, onebunden unbound, enôch, anôch enough, unaborn unborn, ofeslain, ofaslain killed off, EFris. unikaimed unkempt, NFris. -enogh (in comp.) enough. Complete suppression of the prefix takes place in certain cases, as in MLG. to like (cf. G. zugleich) immediately, LG. lîk like, naug enough, schein happened, OFris. bedda, sîth companion, fadera godfather, selscip society, WFris. nôch adv. (beside genôch adj.-pron.), NFris. nogh enough; the suppression of the prefix is normal in pa. pples.; in words of other classes, it survives sporadically or has been revived through Du. or HG. influence.

3   The like developments of OE. ʓe- are traceable in the history of several words in which its identity and force have long ceased to be recognized, or from which all traces of the prefix have been obliterated: e.g., OE. ʓeforðian, ME. iforð(i)e, aforth, AFFORD v., OE. ʓewær, ME. iwar(e, awar(e, AWARE a., OE. ʓelíc(e, ME. YLIKE, ALIKE, LIKE a. and adv., OE. ʓemang, onʓemang, ME. YMONG, AMONG, MONG, OE. ʓenoh, ME. inoȝ, anoȝ, ENOUGH, ’nuff, OE. handʓeweorc HANDIWORK (whence, by analogy, HANDICRAFT), OE. ǽʓhwæðer EITHER. For further examples of the complete disappearance of the prefix see below.

4   The general facts of the history and survival of OE. ʓe-, of which some details are given below, are:—In positions where it was still recognizable as a prefix, it had left few traces in northern English by 1200; its disappearance in the north was assisted by the absence of the prefix in ON. Substantival, adjectival, and verbal forms (other than pa. pples.) continued, not later than the end of the 14th century, only in southern and west-midland dialects. The pa. pple. was regularly formed with the prefix in southern ME. till about the middle of the 15th century, and its use in the form a- survives in south-western dialects to the present day. Pa. pples. so formed were a prominent feature of the archaistic language of Spenser and his imitators, and a few of them, the most notable of which is YCLEPT, persist as conventional archaisms of poetry.

5   In OE. and ME. the prefix was written either continuously with the body of the word of which it formed a part, or disjoined from it by a full or a half space; in the archaistic usage of the 16th and 17th centuries the general practice was to print the compound as one word, without hyphen. In this Dictionary established and well-known forms such as yclad, yclept, are printed without hyphen, but in other instances the convenience of the reader has been consulted, where occasion arises, in the avoidance of unhyphened forms where these would not suggest the nature of the word-formation.

6   Compounds of the prefix spelt with y- are entered in their alphabetical place. Compounds which did not come down late enough for the spelling y- to have become established with them have been entered in their place in the letter I: see I-1. The choice of y- (and not i-) by Spenser and other archaists was determined by the prevalence of that form in the texts upon which he modelled his language. There are a few instances of the general survival of the i- form till a late date, e.g., I-THEE v.; the retention of i- in IWIS is due to the false etymologizing of it as I wis.

7   The original (physical) signification of the prefix, ‘with,’ ‘together,’ without admixture of transferred meaning, persists in some OE. words, such as ʓedræʓ lit. that which is drawn together, band, multitude (cf. Goth. gadragan to heap up or together), ʓelaþian to summon together, invite (cf. Goth. galaþôn συγκαλεῖν), ʓerunnen ‘run together,’ coagulated (cf. Goth. garinnan to come together), ʓeþéodan ‘conjungere,’ to join together, connect; but for the most part its meaning in OE. compounds falls under one or other of the following categories, which are arranged in the probable order of their development in primitive Germanic: the notion of physical accompaniment or conjunction passing into that of (1) association in life, occupation, etc., and hence, of suitability or appropriateness, and (2) collectivity, the final stage being (3) a perfective or intensive notion evolved in some measure from each of the others.

8   1.  The associative meaning is exemplified by two classes of words in OE:

9   a.  Designations of persons associated or related by birth, family, or status, such as ʓebedda (I-BEDDE) ‘one who shares a bed with another,’ bedfellow, consort, f. bedd bed, ʓeféra (YFERE, FERE sb.1) ‘one who goes with another’ (faran to go), companion, ʓeháda ‘one of the same order as another,’ fellow-minister, f. hád condition, order, ʓesíþ (cf. Goth. gasinþja, OS. gisîð, OHG. gisind) ‘one who shares a voyage with another,’ companion, f. síþ journey.

10   b.  Adjectives and allied substantives denoting quality or condition, in which the purely associative sense readily passes into that of appropriateness, convenience, or similarity, such as ȝecynd (I-CUNDE sb.) nature, ʓecynde (I-CUNDE a.) natural, ʓedéfe (cf. Goth. gadôbs) becoming, fit, ʓemæc well-matched, ʓemæcca companion, mate, MATCH sb.1, ʓemaca mate, MAKE sb.1, ʓelíc lit. related in form to, of the same form as, LIKE a., YLIKE, ʓelíca an equal, ʓemet sb., measure, proper measure, proportion, moderation, ʓemet adj., ʓemǽte lit. of suitable measure, fit, proper, MEET a., ʓerǽde lit. suitably prepared (see I-REDE, I-REDY and READY a.), ʓesibb related, I-SIB(BE, ʓeswéʓe harmonious, ʓetríewe holding faith with, TRUE.

11   2.  Compounds in which mutual relation is implied form a link between the associative and the collective uses, e.g., OE. ʓefán, ʓefíend (I-FEOND) enemies, ʓefríend (I-FREOND) friends, ʓebróðor (I-BROTHEREN) brothers, ʓesweostor sisters, ʓemáʓas kinsmen, ʓescý pair of shoes. The number of OE. words of purely collective meaning is not large; examples are ʓebæcu back parts, ʓefylce army, troop, ʓemǽre, pl. ʓemǽru limits, boundary, ʓetimbru pl. building, edifice, ʓewǽde clothing, I-WEDE, ʓewider, pl. ʓewidru weather (esp. as good or bad), storm cf. (G. gewitter).

12   b.  What is probably to be regarded as a particular development of the collective sense appears in the OE. generalizing pronouns and corresponding adverbs, ʓehwá every or each one (cf. I-HWAT), ʓehwilc each or every one, ME. i(l)ch, ILK, ʓehú somehow or other, ʓehwǽr everywhere, YWHERE, ʓehwider in any or every direction. Some of them were reinforced by the prehxing of á ever, e.g., ǽʓhwá each or every one, ǽʓhwæþer each of two, both, EITHER, ǽʓhwelc, ME. euch (see EACH).

13   3.  The perfective or intensive sense is found in the following classes of words:

14   a.  Substantives denoting the result of an action, a stage in a process, or a particular state, as OE. ʓemót meeting, MOOT sb.1, ʓemynd (cf. L. commemini) memory, remembrance, MIND sb.1, ʓesibb relationship, ʓesihþ I-SIGHT, SIGHT, ʓeswell swelling, SWELL sb., ʓeweorc working, what is done or built, fortification, WORK sb., ʓewitnes testimony, I-WITNESS, WITNESS sb., ʓewrit what is written, writing, I-WRIT, WRIT.

15   b.  Adjectives denoting a state, as ʓeclǽne pure, ʓehál WHOLE, ʓesund uninjured, SOUND a.

16   c.  Verbs that denote achievement of a result, the attainment of a stage in a process, or a special limitation of the general sense of the simple verb. The force of the prefix is clearly recognizable in examples like OE. ʓeetan to eat up, consume, ‘comedere’, ʓestíȝan to mount up, ‘conscendere,’ and esp. in such pairs as ærnan to run, ʓeærnan to gain by running, áscian, friʓnan to ask, ʓeáscian, ʓefriʓnan to learn, beran to carry, ʓeberan to bring forth, faran to go, ʓefaran to depart this life, die, to get by going, occupy, rǽcan to stretch forth, offer, ʓerǽcan to reach, obtain, rídan to ride, ʓerídan to reach as by riding, get into one’s power, weorþan to become, be, ʓeweorþan impers. to be agreed, gán to go, ʓegán to attain to, get, occupy, winnan to fight, strive, ʓewinnan to win. But in many instances no difference of meaning is discernible between the simplex and the componnd, e.g., beorʓan, ʓebeorʓan to protect, hátan, ʓehátan to call, name, command, promise, limpan, ʓelimpan to happen, secgan, ʓesecgan to say, tell. There are also some causative compounds, as ʓebétan to make good, improve, BEET v., ʓeforðian to further (see AFFORD), ʓehefiʓian to make heavy. Of such verbs many did not survive except in their pa. pples. into the ME. period; others survived only till about 1300, and that in southern areas; a certain number, such as ʓehíeran YHERE, ʓeséon YSEE, continued in use in present and past tenses till 1400 or later; very few lasted till 1500 or beyond. But from the middle of the 16th century onwards archaizing poets created (orig. after pa. ppl. forms) new formations in which the prefix was meaningless. Such are yclepe (after yclept), yglaunst, and yshrilled (Spenser), ycharm’d, ysprout (Robinson’s Mary Magdalene), ysteer (Gosson), ydrop (Henry More); there are also pres. pples. like Sackville’s ycausing and Milton’s star-ypointing.

17   4.  The use of perfective or completive ʓe- had its most extensive development in the formation of pa. pples., a function common to the Low German and High German groups but not found in Gothic and Scandinavian. The prefix could be employed with any uncompounded verb, but the verbs corresp. to OE. bringan to bring, cuman to come, findan to find, weorþan to become, did not normally take it.

18   In OE. and in ME. (where the prefix continued in full use) it is often impossible to determine whether a particular pa. pple. with ʓe- (i-, y-) belongs to a simple verb or to its compound with ʓe-.

19   In OE, the prefix was employed in forms derived from Latin, as ʓeplantod = plantatus. Similarly in ME. it was freely employed with verbs of French origin, as ybaptised, yblamed, ycircumcysed, iclosed, igranted, ikupled, ymartred, yoccupied, ipaied, ipassed, irobbet, isturbed, isued, isustened, iwarised. Early loanwords from Scandinavian also took it, as itaken (12th cent.).

20   It came down into ME. as a peculiar characteristic of the language of the south and west-midland regions, and examples are consequently abundant in such texts as (in the 13th cent.) Layamon’s Brut, the texts of ‘the Katherine group,’ Owl and Nightingale, Robert of Gloucester, (in the 14th cent.) Ayenbite, Shoreham’s poems, Piers Plowman, Trevisa’s works, Sir Ferumbras, (in the 15th cent.) Yonge’s translation (Anglo-Irish) of Secreta Secretorum and the anonymous Two Cookery Books (E.E.T.S.); its frequency in Lydgate is presumably due to metrical exigencies and to imitation of Chaucer, in whom it is fairly common, whereas it is almost entirely absent from the works of Gower. In the 16th century it was adopted as an archaistic feature from Chaucer and Lydgate by many poetical writers, among whom are Phaer, Sylvester, Arthur Hall, and, above all, Spenser. In the 17th cent. Henry More is a prominent user of these pa. pples., and in the 18th cent. Thomson and other Spenserians have many examples. Some of the most commonly occurring words are ybent, ybound, ybrought, yclad, yclept, ydight, ydrad, ypent, ypight, ywrought.

21   In modern dialects its use in the form a extends over a triangular area of which the angles lie in Worcestershire, Surrey, and Cornwall; it is found also in Pembrokeshire and Wexford. Modern examples of dialectal usage are:—

22 1568.  Howell, Arbor of Amitie, 36 b.        In husbandry, icham truely, ycounted to excell.

23 1605.  London Prodigal, IV. i. E 3 b. Such a lerripoope as thick ych was nere a sarued.

24 c. 1640.  John Smyth, Descr. Hundr. Berkeley (1885), III. 23. A native hundreder, beinge asked where hee was borne, answereth, where shu’d y bee y bore, but at Berkeley hurns, And there, begis, each was y bore. Or thus, Each was ’geboren at Berkeley hurns.

25 1746.  Exmoor Courtship (E.D.S.), 326. Tha hast a creem’d ma Yearms, and a most a bost ma Neck.

26 1863.  Barnes, Dorset Dial., 27. I shall’ve a-meäde. Ibid., Gloss., A-zet, set, or planted.

27 1886.  W. Som. Word-bk., Adood, done.

28   5.  In OE. ʓe- was used in the formation of adjs. from substantival stems to express the possession of, or being provided with, something, as ʓefeax having hair (of a certain color), ʓeheort courageous, ʓestence odorous, ʓewurms purulent (f. wurms corruption; cf. Goth. gascōhs shod), but esp. with the ppl. ending -od, -ed, as ʓefeaxod (beside ʓefeaxen) having hair, ʓehelmod, ʓehilmed helmeted, ʓehyrnd horned, ʓesperod armed with a spear. The number of the latter was added to in ME., e.g., ybonchyd humped, (wel) ycheryd well-favored, ifiðered (cf. OE. ʓefeðerian), ileaded, ileðered, ypavylyound, iteiled, (old) i-yeerid; in some instances the forms with the prefix are the more original forms of such adjs.: see e.g., FEATHERED, LEADED, LEATHERED, TAILED, YEARED. A few compounds of this class were coined by archaists of the 16th century; e.g., YCRESTED (A. Hall, 1581).

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