sate

v. (past sg.)

'sat' (Modern English sit)

Etymology

The pret. sg. of an OE str. III v. like sittan (cp. OIcel sitja, OS sittian, OHG sizzan, OFris sitta < PGmc *setjan- (next to Go sitan)) would be expected in the Gaw MS either to be spelt with an <a> (from OE sæt; as Cl 992 <sat>) or an <e> (with the vocalism transferred from the pret. pl. OE Angl. sēton; as Pa 313 <seet>, Pe 1054 <set>).  It is conceivable that Gaw 339 <sate> represents a version of the stem with a long /a:/ under the influence of the pret. pl. stem of the ON equivalent, cp. OIcel sátu (as is suggested in general terms for ME <a> and <o> spellings of the pret. of this v. by MED and OED), but this form seems at least as likely to contain a short /a/ and the possiblity of ON input is not raised in editions and discussions of Gaw.  Cp. also the past sg. variant gafe (see gif) in Gaw 1861. 

PGmc Ancestor

 *setjan-

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

sitja 'to sit'
(ONP sitja (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far sita, Icel sitja, Norw sitja, ODan sitia, sitiæ, Dan sidde, OSw sitia, Sw sitta

OE Cognate

 sittan 'to sit'

Phonological and morphological markers

[ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc */e:/ (1)] (may not be applicable)

Summary category

CCC2

Attestation

MED has a number of instances of <sate(n)>, with no very evident dial restriction; <sot->spellings are rarer, and tend to be N and E (inc. Lydgate).

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

Gaw 339

Bibliography

MED sitten (v.) , OED sit (v.) , HTOED , Dance sate, de Vries sitja, Mag. sitja, Bj-L. sitte, Seebold set-ja-, Orel *setjanan, Kroonen *set(j)an-, AEW sittan