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Hal

( 133 )

Han

appeared, as in baß for the earlier batiz; orig. haldiz formed, like Goth. haldis, OIc. heldr, ‘rather.’ In no case is it related to the OHG. adj. hald, ‘inclined,’ mentioned under Halde; with the exception of the OHG. halto, adv., no other word in the posit. can be found.

halten, vb., ‘to hold, support, detain, observe, perform, consider,’ from the equiv. MidHG. halten, OHG. haltan; comp. OSax. haldan, ‘to preserve, receive, detain as a prisoner, tend (cattle), adhere to, maintain,’ Du. houden (see haudern), AS. healdan, str. vb., ‘to watch over, lead, possess, rule,’ E. to hold; Goth. haldan, redupl. vb., ‘to graze cattle’; a redupl. vb. common to Teut. According to the OHG. variant halthan, haltan points to the normal Goth. form *halþan, which is also supported by OSwed. halla. The orig. sense of OTeut. haldan is perhaps ‘to keep together by careful watching,’ hence ‘to tend a herd, govern a tribe, rule.’ In the non-Teut. languages an Aryan root kalt of cognate meaning is not found. If the dental belonged orig. to the pres. stem merely, the word might also be derived from the root kol, and hence connected with Gr. βου-κόλος. No relation between haldan and Herde is possible. — ModHG. Halt, m., is wanting both in MidHG. and OHG.

Hamen, m., ‘tunnel-net,’ from MidHG. and MidLG. hame; akin probably to the equiv. OSwed. haver, ModSwed. håf, m., OHG. hamo, m., ‘tunnel-net.’ The latter word is considered identical with OHG. *hamo (in lîhhamo, ‘body,’ OSax. gûðhamo, feðarhamo; comp. Leichnam, Hemd, and hämisch), orig. ‘covering, dress.’ From the meaning ‘Tuch,’ in the restricted sense in which it is used by fishermen and huntsmen (i.e. ‘toils’), the signification ‘net’ might of course be developed; but that is not certain. OHG. hamo, MidHG. ham, hame, m., ‘fishing-rod, fishing-hook,’ and the modern dial. Hamen, are not allied to the words mentioned above; they seem to be cognate with Lat. hâmus, ‘fishing-hook, hook’; the h might be explained as in haben.

hämisch, adj., ‘malicious,’ from late MidHG. hęmisch, adj., ‘close, malicious, cunning, perfidious,’ orig. perhaps ‘veiled, obscure’; allied to OHG. *hamo, ‘covering, dress,’ mentioned under Hamen, Hemd, and Leichnam.

Hammel, m., from the equiv. MidHG.

and MidLG. hamel, OHG. hamal, m., ‘wether’ (MidHG. also ‘steep, rugged height; cliff, pole’); prop. an adj. used as a subst., OHG. hamal, ‘mutilated,’ which elucidates the MidHG. meanings; OHG. hamalôn, MidHG. hameln (and hamen), ‘to mutilate,’ AS. hamelian, E. to hamble (‘mutilate, lame’); OHG. hamalscorro, m., ‘boulder,’ OHG. hamal-, hamalung-stat, f., ‘place of execution,’ MidHG. hamelstat, n. and m., ‘indented coast,’ hamelstat, f., ‘rugged ground.’ Allied to OHG. ham (inflected hammêr), adj., ‘mutilated, crippled’ (comp. hemmen), just as Fr. mouton to Lat. mutilus.

Hammer, m., ‘hammer, clapper,’ from the equiv. MidHG. hamer (plur. hęmer), OHG. hamar (plur. hamarâ), m.; comp. OSax. hamur, AS. hamor, m., E. hammer, and its equiv. OIc. hamarr, m. (also ‘cliff, rock’); the common Teut. word for ‘hammer,’ by chance not recorded in Goth. only. For the elucidation of its earlier history the subsidiary meanings in Scand. are important; the cognate term kamy in OSlov. signifies ‘stone.’ Hence it has been assumed that Hammer is lit. ‘stone weapon.’ Whether Sans. açman, ‘rock, stone weapon, hammer, anvil,’ &c., and Gr. ἄκμων, ‘anvil’ (Lith. aknmů, ‘stone’), are also allied is uncertain.

Hämmling, Hemmling, m., ‘eunuch,’ ModHG. simply, a deriv. of Hammel.

Hampfel, f., from the equiv. MidHG. hant-vol, ‘a handful.’

Hamster, m., from the equiv. MidHG. hamster, m., ‘German marmot’; OHG. hamastro, m., signifies only ‘curculio, weevil,’ so too OSax. hamstra, f., for *hamastra. The existing meaning is probably the earlier. In form the word stands quite alone; its occurrence in G. only, perhaps supports the view that it was borrowed. A corresponding word has not yet been found in a neighbouring language.

Hand, f., ‘hand,’ from the equiv. MidHG. and OHG. hant, f.; comp. OSax. and Du. hand, AS. hand, f., E. hand, OIc. hǫnd, Goth. handus, f.; a common Teut. word for ‘hand,’ unknown to the other divisions of the Aryan group, most of the languages having special terms of their own. It is usually derived from Goth. hinþan, ‘to catch,’ frahunþans, m., ‘prisoner’ (comp. the cognate E. to hunt, AS. huntian), in the sense of ‘the grasping, seizing part,’ and to this there is no objection, as far as the sound and meaning are concerned.