Academic Scientific JournalsCan weep lure? An analysis of a controversial Slavico-Germanic pair of cognates
Keywords:
Polish-English cognates, semantic change, Slavico-Germanic cognates, sound changeAbstract
The aim of this paper is to suggest an analysis of one controversial Slavico-Germanic group of cognates represented by Polish wabić and English weep. The analysis presents the diachronic perspective of both the semantic and the phonological development in two descending lines: the Germanic, leading to modern English; and the Slavic, leading to modern Polish. Even though, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “outside Teutonic no certain cognates are known” (of E weep), the connection between the Germanic *wōpjan and the Slavic *vabiti is much closer than appears prima facie. The phonological difference between them can be explained in terms of regular sound changes. Moreover, the Gothic cognate wopjan has a remarkably similar, if not the same, meaning as in Old Polish and in some of the modern senses of wabić. Consequently, having analysed the relevant material in Old Church Slavonic, Gothic, Old Polish and Old English, it is argued that P wabić and E weep are cognate and an attempt is made at explaining which semantic and phonological changes are responsible for their differentiation.
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