The history of Old English būgian and bōgian ʻdwellʼ, and some related morphonological problems

Abstract

Abstract In this article, an alternative historical analysis of the Old English verbs būgian and bōgian is presented, whereby it is suggested that they are relatively late formations. The verb *bū̆wōja- (> būgian) evolved out of the verb *bū̆wa- (> būan) during the Proto-Northwest Germanic era by way of a paradigmatic split. The vowel ū̆ in the root of *bū̆wōja- was subject to assimilatory lowering due to the influence of the following non-high vowels: the lowering of the root vowel produced the stem *bō̆wōja- (> OE bogian). It is argued here that the vowel /u/ was susceptible to lowering in this environment because in the sequence -V(w)V-, it was phonetically short (phonologically, it was length-neutral in this position).