renne

v. (st. (and wk.))

Gaw past ran, runnen,pres. ptcp. rennande, pp. runnen, Pe past ran, pp. runne(n); Cl pres. 3 pl. rennen, past sg. ran, past pl. runnen, ran; Pat pres. 3 sg. renes, past 3 sg. ran; Erk past pl. ronnen; WA ryn, ren, pres. 3 sg. rynnys, rynnes, pres. pl. rynnes, rynnyn, pres. ptcp. rynand, past sg. ran

‘to run, slide, flow, rush (in a torrent); be current; move or change in time, continue; mount up’ (Modern English run)

Etymology

The ME v. has two sources: (1) a PGmc str. III *rennan- ‘to run’, as in Go rinnan, OIcel rinna, OE irnan (etc.), OS and OHG rinnan, OFris rinna, renna, ronna, runna, MDu rinnen; (2) a PGmc wk. 1 *rannjan- ‘to (make) run’, as in Go ur-rannjan, OIcel renna, OE ærnan, OS rennian, OHG rennan, OFris renna.  Non-metathesized reflexes are relatively rare in OE, but attested in both the str. conjugation (esp. of the pp. (ge)runnen, but also representing the pres., e.g. ChristC 1114 <rinnan>) and the wk. The majority of the st. forms relate to the movement of liquid, as do the two clear instances of a wk. OE gerennan, both of which mean ‘of a liquid: to coagulate, solidify’; thus it has been suggested that the r- initial variant had become particularly associated with this semantic area. Given the extreme rarity of ren- forms in a very restricted sense in the OE record, and their concentration in the N and E in earlier ME, it is usual to invoke at least some ON input to account for ME ren- and other non-metathesized forms (see further OED3). 

PGmc Ancestor

*rennan-, *rannjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

rinna 'to run'; renna 'to (make) run'
(ONP renna (2) and (3) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far renna, Icel renna, Norw renna, Dan rinde, Sw rinna; Far renna, Icel renna, Norw renna, ODan rænnæ, Dan rende, Sw ränna

OE Cognate

 irnan 'to run', ærnan 'to (make) run'

Phonological and morphological markers

[

absence of metathesis

] (possibly diagnostic)

Summary category

C2c

Attestation

A few non-metathesized forms occur in OE and in the early ME of the SWM (e.g. <rinneð> in c1225(?c1200) St.Kath.(1) (Bod 34)), but they first become numerous in N and E ME (thus e.g. a1300(a1250) Bestiary (Arun 292); albeit Orrm has e(o)rnenn beside rann); they are widespread by the later 14c. (inc. renn- in Chaucer and Gower).  See also LALME dot map 1060. 

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 66, 310, 731, etc., Pe 26, 523, 646; Cl 391, 527, 797 etc.; Pat 52, 378, 514; Erk 62; WA 1323, 1352, 1513 etc.

MS <runnen> at Pe 26 is usually emended to runne for the sake of the rhyme (so Goll, EVG, AW etc.) and Vant (see 26n) also maintains the possibility it represents a scribal error although me prints the MS reading. On the phrase to ryde oþer to renne, see AndPat 52n.

Bibliography

MED rennen (v.1) , OED3 run (v.) , HTOED , HTOED , HTOED , HTOED , Dance renne, Bj. 185, de Vries renna (2) and (3), Mag. renna (2) and (3), Bj-L. renne (1) and (2), Seebold renn-a, Orel *rennanan; *rannjanan, Kroonen *rinnan-; *rannjan-, AEW rinnan, iornan, iernan; ærnan