geflit

Old English edit

ġe- +‎ flit

ġeflit n

Ġeflit means an argument as in "a debate, dispute, quarrel." For the sense "line of reasoning," racu is used.
Most often, ġeflit denotes verbal fighting and ġefeoht physical fighting, though this is only a generalization.
The plural ending -u, attested in Alfred, Ælfric, and the translator of Bede, shows that the /i/ in this word is short, cf. pairs such as wrītan (“to write”) and ġewrit (“writing,” → Modern English writ). Bede's translator even spells the plural ⟨gefleoto⟩, showing back umlaut, which only occurs to short vowels. This means at least a form of the word must have had short /i/ at least since around 700, when back umlaut took place. Thus, the /aɪ/ of the modern noun flyte must be from the verb.

Declension of geflit (strong a-stem)