Etymology

Always derived from ON, and possibly formed directly on the borrowed adj. spak (see spakest (adj. as sb.)). Some influence from the related ON wk. v. (formed on the root of the adj.) represented by OIcel spekja 'calm, soothe, keep quiet', which is attested as middle voice spekjast with the reflexive sense 'be calmed', is also plausible. This root does not occur elsewhere in Gmc, but a connection with the same Indo-European base as Croatian paziti 'to give heed to' is often suggested.

PGmc Ancestor

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

spakr (adj.) 'gentle, wise'; cp. spekja 'calm, soothe, keep quiet'
(ONP spakr (adj.); cp. spekja (2) (vb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

cp. Far spekja, Icel spekja, Norw spekkja, Dan spæge, Sw späka

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

Summary category

B1

Attestation

Only otherwise cited by MED and OED from a1300 Leuedi sainte (Add 27909), with the rather different sense 'hasten'.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

WA 237

Bibliography

MED spā̆ken (v.) , OED spake (v.) , HTOED , de Vries spekja (2), Mag. spakur