Etymology
The ON verbs represented by OIcel
játa (wk. 1 or wk. 2) and OIcel
játta (wk. 2) which are etymologically distinct but identical in meaning (‘to say yes, assent, acknowledge, grant, yield’), have each been proposed as the source of ME
ʒette, but formal criteria are inconclusive in both cases. OIcel
játa (Norw
jata, OSw
jata,
jæta, ODan
jate) is explained as a derivation on the affirmative adv./interj.
já, i.e. PGmc
*jē + -at(j)an; cp. OHG
gijāzan ‘to assent’, with the parallel negative represented by OIcel
neita (wk. 1 or 2) ‘to deny, refuse’ <
*nai-. The vocalism of OE
gēatan (wk. 1) suggests it is cognate with
játa, and its late attestation allows that it could be derived from ON (SPS 96). In that case the first syllable must have been remodelled as OE WS
gēa, Angl.
gē ‘yes’ (with shortening, as in the vocalism of the Gaw form <ʒette>)(
OED). The double consonant (also found in early ME SWM spellings) could reflect the influence of ON
játta (Far.
játta, Norw
jatta, OSw
jatta, ODan
jætte, jatte)
. This word could be cognate with WGmc forms OFris
jechta, OHG
jihtan ‘to confess’ with medial cluster assimilation < PGmc
*jextō(j)anan , but this is not secure. It has also been explained more economically as a by-form of
játa with
-tt- transferred to the pres. stem from the wk. 1 pret. (OIcel
ját-ti) (thus Mag., Bj-L.).
PGmc Ancestor
?*jē + -at(j)an or *jextō(j)anan
Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)
játa or játta ‘to say yes, assent, acknowledge, grant, yield’
(ONP játa (1) (vb.); játa (2) (vb.); játta (vb.))
Other Scandinavian Reflexes
Icel játa, Norw jata, ODan jate, OSw jata, jæta; Far játta, Icel játta, Norw jatta, ODan jætte, jatte, OSw jatta
OE Cognate
cp. WS gēa, Angl. gē ‘yes’
Phonological and morphological markers
[syncope]
(may not be applicable)
[ON consonant cluster assimilation]
(may not be applicable)
Summary category
B2ac