Seaxan
Old English
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *sahsan.
Pronunciation
Proper noun
Seaxan m pl
- the Saxons
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Manuscript E, year 605
- Augustīnus cwæþ, "Ġif Wēalas nyllaþ sibbe wiþ ūs, hīe sċulon æt Seaxna handa forweorðan."
- Augustine said, "If the Celts don't want peace with us, they'll have to perish at the hands [lit. "hand"] of the Saxons."
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Manuscript E, year 605
Usage notes
- The genitive plural is Seaxna, not regular Seaxena. Syncopated -na was apparently the inherited gen. pl. ending in weak nouns; but *a was then inserted by analogy with the nom.-acc. pl., subsequently dissimulating to *e.[1] By the literary period, the syncopated form is uncommon except in poetry and in some weak names of peoples. The syncope is preserved consistently in Seaxan, often in Francan (“the French”) and Frīsan (“Frisians”), and never in Gotan (“Goths”) and Siġelhearwan (“Ethiopians”), though for the last two few examples survive.
Declension
Declension of ' (weak)
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | — | Seaxan |
| accusative | — | Seaxan |
| genitive | — | Seaxna |
| dative | — | Seaxum |
Derived terms
See also
References
- ^ Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 154