Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/garāfijō

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-West Germanic

Etymology

Unknown. Possibly related to Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌲𐍂𐌴𐍆𐍄𐍃 (gagrēfts, “decree, edict”),[1] from unattested Proto-Germanic *grēfan (“to command, dictate”) of unknown origin, or perhaps from unattested *garāfan (“to seize”), from Proto-Germanic *ga-rēfaną,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p- (“to seize, pluck”) or *h₁rep- (“to rip, snatch, tear, pinch”) +‎ *-jō, related to *rafjaną (“to seize, take”), *rafsijaną (“to reproach, blame”), *rōf (“famous”).

Alternatively and most likely borrowed from Ancient Greek γραφεύς (grapheús, “scribe”) via Medieval Latin graphio, grafio, gravio, -gravius.[3][4]

Noun

*garāfijō m

count (the male ruler of a county)
earl
reeve, bailiff
officer, official

Inflection

Masculine an-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*garāfijō
Genitive	garāfijini, garāfijan
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*garāfijō	*garāfijan
Accusative	*garāfijan	*garāfijan
Genitive	garāfijini, garāfijan	*garāfijanō
Dative	garāfijini, garāfijan	*garāfijum
Instrumental	garāfijini, garāfijan	*garāfijum

Alternative reconstructions

*grāfijō

Derived terms

Proto-West Germanic: *markagarāfijō
- Old Saxon: *marcgrāvio
  - Middle Low German: markgrêve, marchgrêve, merkgrêve, markgrâve, markgraf
- Old Dutch: *marcgrāvo
  - Middle Dutch: marcgrâve, marcgrêve
    - Dutch: markgraaf
- Old High German: marcgrāvo, markgrāfo, markgrāfio, marcgrāvio, markgrāvio
  - Middle High German: marcgrāve, margrāve, marcgrāf, marcrāve, marcrāf, margrāfe, marcgrāfe
    - German: Markgraf

Descendants

Old English: ġerēfa, groefa
- Middle English: reve (via rēfa)
  - English: reeve
Old Frisian: greva
- North Frisian: greve
- Saterland Frisian: greve
- West Frisian: greafa
Old Saxon: grāvio
- Middle Low German: grēve, grāve
  - German Low German: gräve
  - Dutch Low Saxon: gråve
  - → Old Norse: greifi, grefi
    - Icelandic: greifi
    - Faroese: greivi
    - → Middle English: greyve, grafe, grave, grayve; greȝȝfe
  - → Danish: greve
  - → Swedish: greve
  - → Norwegian Bokmål: greve
  - → Norwegian Nynorsk: greve
Old Dutch: grāvo
- Middle Dutch: grâve
  - Dutch: graaf
Old High German: grāfio, grāfo, grāvo, grāvio, grāphio, krāvio
- Middle High German: grâve
  - German: Graf
→ Latin: grāfiō, garāfiō, grāffiō, grāviō[5]

References

Torp, Alf (1919), “Greive”, in Nynorsk Etymologisk Ordbok, Oslo: H. Aschehoug and Co. (W. Nygaard), page 180
Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*magaþi-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 346-347
Wolfgang Pfeifer, editor (1993), “Graf”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen (in German), 2nd edition, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN
Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; van der Sijs, Nicoline (2003–2009), “graaf1”, in Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press
Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “grafio”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 472

[1] Torp, Alf (1919), “Greive”, in Nynorsk Etymologisk Ordbok, Oslo: H. Aschehoug and Co. (W. Nygaard), page 180

[2] Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*magaþi-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 346-347

[3] Wolfgang Pfeifer, editor (1993), “Graf”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen (in German), 2nd edition, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN

[4] Philippa, Marlies; Debrabandere, Frans; Quak, Arend; Schoonheim, Tanneke; van der Sijs, Nicoline (2003–2009), “graaf1”, in Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands (in Dutch), Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press

[5] Niermeyer, Jan Frederik (1976), “grafio”, in Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden, Boston: E. J. Brill, page 472