ᛋᛒᛡ
Proto-Norse
editEtymology
editFrom Proto-Germanic *spahō, either as a feminine noun meaning ‘prophecy, prediction’, or as an inflected form of Proto-Germanic *spahōną (“I predict, I foresee”). Since the Old Norse verb spá can take the genitive, it can not be said which this word is. Ultimately, however, the word is derived from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”).
A more primitive Scandinavian form should have been *ᛊᛈᚨᚺᚢ (*spahu). In its attested form, the word is young enough to have undergone loss of medial /-h-/, as well as syncope, and possibly even u-umlaut /a/ > /ǫ/.
Noun
editᛋᛒᛡ (sbᴀ /spā/) f
- prediction, prophecy
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
- ᚢᚦᛡᚱᛡᛒᛡᛋᛒᛡ
uþArAbAsbA- ūþarᵃβa spā
- [a] prophecy of misfortune
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
Descendants
editVerb
editᛋᛒᛡ (sbᴀ /spā/)
- I predict, I foretell
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone:
- ᚢᚦᛡᚱᛡᛒᛡᛋᛒᛡ
uþArAbAsbA- ūþarᵃβa spā
- I predict misfortune
- 6th century, inscription on the Björketorp stone: