heahfore

Old English edit

Alternative forms edit

hēafaru, hēafru, hēahfru, hēhfore
hēhfaro, hēffere, hēhfare — Northumbrian

Etymology edit

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 stymie 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 edit

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

Noun edit

hēahfore f

heifer

Declension edit

Declension of heahfore (weak)

Case	Singular	Plural
nominative	hēahfore	hēahforan
accusative	hēahforan	hēahforan
genitive	hēahforan	hēahforena
dative	hēahforan	hēahforum

Descendants edit

Middle English: heyfre, haffer, hayfare, hayfre, hefere, heffere, heffre, heyfer, heyfor, heyfur; heekfar, hefker, hekfare, hekfere, hekfore
- English: heifer (obsolete dialectal hefker, hekfer)
- Scots: heifer
- Yola: hiver

References edit

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

[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, number 1, →DOI, 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), volumes V (H–K), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, 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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