hevan
Old High German
Verb
hevan
- alternative form of heffen
Old Saxon
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Proto-West Germanic *hebun (“heaven, sky”).
Noun
hevan m
Usage notes
- Hevan is relatively little used in Old Saxon literature because, after Frankish and High German example, the word himil was valued higher and considered more appropriate particularly in religious context. That hevan was the everyday Saxon form is made abundantly clear by modern dialectal evidence.[1] Häwen (with its phonetic variants) prevails in the greatest part of modern Low German, either in the sense “sky” or in both senses. Even in Westphalia, the area of heaviest Franconian influence, where it is admittedly recessive, it is still widely attested.[2]
Declension
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | hevan | hevanos |
| accusative | hevan | hevanos |
| genitive | hevanes | hevanō |
| dative | hevane | hevanum |
| instrumental | — | — |
Related terms
Descendants
- Middle Low German: hēven
- German Low German:
- Altmärkisch: Häw'n
- Westphalian:
- Dortmunder: Hēäwen
- Lippisch: Heben
- Ravensbergisch: Hewwen
- Sauerländisch: Hiäwen, Hiawen (Olpe)
- German Low German:
References
- ^ Willy Sanders: Altsächsische Sprache, in: Jan Goossens (editor): Niederdeutsch – Eine Einführung, vol. 2 (Sprache), 2nd edition, Karl Wachholtz Verlag, 1983, page 62: “Die Einstellung gegenüber diesen Neuerungen spiegelt das damals aus dem Hd. entlehnte himil wider, das neben die heimische Wortform heƀan trat: noch heute gilt im Nd. weithin Häwen für den natürlichen, Himmel als Kanzelwort für den biblischen Himmel.”
- ^ Heªwen in Westfälisches Wörterbuch at Wörterbuchnetz.