Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/sīkan

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

Perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- (“to pour out”); compare semantics of *sūftōn (“to sigh, lament”), from Proto-Indo-European *sewp- (“to pour out”).

Verb

*sīkan

1. to sigh, take a deep breath
2. to groan, complain, lament

Inflection

Strong class 1
Infinitive	*sīkan
1st sg. past	*saik
3rd pl. past	*sikun
Past ptcple	*sikan
Infinitive	*sīkan
Genitive infin.	*sīkannjas
Dative infin.	*sīkannjē
Instrum. infin.	*sīkannju
Indicative	Present	Past
1st singular	*sīku	*saik
2nd singular	*sīkiʀi	*sikī
3rd singular	*sīkidi	*saik
1st plural	*sīkum	*sikum
2nd plural	*sīkid	*sikud
3rd plural	*sīkand	*sikun
Subjunctive	Present	Past
1st singular	*sīkē	*sikī
2nd singular	*sīkēs	*sikī
3rd singular	*sīkē	*sikī
1st plural	*sīkēm	*sikīm
2nd plural	*sīkēþ	*sikīd
3rd plural	*sīkēn	*sikīn
Imperative	Present
Singular	*sīk
Plural	*sīkid
	Present	Past
Participle	*sīkandī	*sikan

Related terms

• *saikijan
• *saiwi
• *sihtrā
• *sīgan
• *sīhwan

Descendants

• Old English: sīcan, sȳcan
  • Middle English: siken, syken, sichen, sychen
    • English: sike (archaic, except northern England)
    • ⇒ Middle English: sighen, syghen, siʒhen
      • English: sigh
      • ⇒ Middle English: sythen, sithen, sethen
        • English: sithe (archaic, obsolete)
• Old Dutch: *sīcan
  • Middle Dutch: *sîken
    • Dutch: zijken (dialectal)
    • ⇒ Middle Dutch: versîken
• West Frisian: sykje

Further reading

• Friedrich Kluge (1989) “seufzen”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 670