Indo-European linguistics and classical philology
E. V. Kravchenko Synonyms for sea sǣ and mere in the history of the Germanic languages and in the poetic language of Beowulf (pp. 455–471)
Author
E. V. Kravchenko (Lomonosov Moscow State University)
Pages\n 455–471
Summary\n
The main words for sea in the Germanic languages display areal divergencies, which are retained and develop new (and at the same time traditionally rooted) features in Beowulf, both in the poetic language and in the dynamics of narration. The semantic correlation of the lexemes sǣ and mere reflects the absence of a common Indo-European word for ‘sea’. The result of linguistic contacts was a Germanic-Italian-Celtic-Slavic isogloss from the Indo-European stem *mer- // *mar- with the meaning ‘sea’. In Gothic marei is the main word for sea. It was spread in other Germanic dialects. In the West Germanic dialects, however, the main lexeme for sea was chosen to be the word which originally signified ‘moor’ (Old English sǣ). The Northen areal is in-between with both words marr and sǽr meaning ‘sea’. Referring to the Galilean Sea (which actually is not sea) as marei, saiws and marisaiws shows that in the language of the Gothic Bible the system is not fully formed and therefore allows communicative contradiction. The correlation of two kinds – denotative demarcation and potential convergence gains motivation and linguistic expression in the poetic language of Beowulf with the word sǣ meaning ‘sea’ in the core of the synonymic system. It signifies the heroic space between the kingdoms. The lexeme mere is mainly used to denote the place where the monstrous Grendel and his mother lived. At the beginning of the narration this word functions as a synonym to the names of a swamp (fen and mōr). But then in the theme of battle the change of meaning occurs, and the lexeme mere becomes synonymous with the other names for sea. Finally, the meaning of the word expands to signify marine space in the scop’s epic song. Thus, the semantic correlation of the lexemes sǣ and mere goes back to the archaic Old-German tradition, on the one hand, and is based on the multilevel epic picture of the world, on the other. These words name the most important cosmological realities and dominate in epics. The interaction between the synonyms is complicated and compositionally bound in Beowulf.

Keywords etymology, diachrony, Germanic languages, areal divergencies, synonyms, Old English, traditional poetry, poetic language, historical poetics.

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