*wrītaną

Runic: ᚹᚱᛁᛏᚨᚾᚨ Pronunciation: /ˈwriː.tɑ.nɑ̃/

verb · Strong class 1

Meanings

to scratch, carve
to engrave, inscribe, write

Etymology

Of unclear origin.

Kroonen derives the root from a Proto-Indo-European *wreyd-, with no known cognates outside of Germanic. The only one who has since attempted to find cognates in this vein is Matasović, who links this root to Latin rīdeō (‘to laugh’).

Pokorny and Lehmann suggest that the root is a d-extension of a Proto-Indo-European *wer- (‘to cut, scratch’), for which see Old Armenian գիր (gir, ‘letter; writing’) for more possible cognates. Latin rīma (‘cleft, crack’) may also continue this same root. However, as with the unrelated *wlītaną (q.v.), the extension may have been with a different dental consonant than *d in the case of back-influence from iterative *writtōną.

Compare typologically Latin scribō, Ancient Greek σκάριφος (skáriphos) (skáriphos) < Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ-; Ancient Greek γράφω (gráphō) (gráphō) < Proto-Indo-European *gerbʰ-; Russian начерта́ние (načertánije), черти́ть (čertítʹ) << Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-.

Conjugation

Present active

Person	Indicative	Subjunctive	Imperative
1st singular	wrītō	wrītaų	–
2nd singular	wrītizi	wrītaiz	wrīt
3rd singular	wrītidi	wrītai	wrītadau
1st dual	wrītōz	wrītaiw	–
2nd dual	wrītadiz	wrītaidiz	wrītadiz
1st plural	wrītamaz	wrītaim	–
2nd plural	wrītid	wrītaid	wrītid
3rd plural	wrītandi	wrītain	wrītandau

Present passive

Person	Indicative	Subjunctive
1st singular	wrītai	–
2nd singular	wrītazai	wrītaizau
3rd singular	wrītadai	wrītaidau
1st dual	–	–
2nd dual	–	–
1st plural	wrītandai	wrītaindau
2nd plural	wrītandai	wrītaindau
3rd plural	wrītandai	wrītaindau

Past

Person	Indicative	Subjunctive
1st singular	wrait	writį̄
2nd singular	wraist	writīz
3rd singular	wrait	writī
1st dual	writū	writīw
2nd dual	writudiz	writīdiz
1st plural	writum	writīm
2nd plural	writud	writīd
3rd plural	writun	writīn

Non-finite Forms

Infinitive	Present Participle	Past Participle
wrītaną	wrītandz	writanaz

Find a form

Descendants

*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- *wrītan (Old Dutch)
  - writen (Middle Dutch)
    - wrijten (Dutch)
*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- wrītan (Old English)
  - writen (Middle English)
    - write (English)
    - writ, wryte, wret (Scots)
*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- wrīta (Old Frisian)
  - riete (Saterland Frisian)
  - write (West Frisian)
*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- rīȥan, ᚹᚱᚨᛁᛏ (wrait), ᚹᚱᚨᛖᛏ (wraet) (Old High German)
  - rīȥen (Middle High German)
    - räissen (Luxembourgish)
*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- rīȥan, ᚹᚱᚨᛁᛏ (wrait), ᚹᚱᚨᛖᛏ (wraet) (Old High German)
  - rīȥen (Middle High German)
    - reißen (German)
      - ridse (Danish)
*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- rīȥan, ᚹᚱᚨᛁᛏ (wrait), ᚹᚱᚨᛖᛏ (wraet) (Old High German)
  - rīȥen (Middle High German)
    - rysować (Polish)
      - рысава́ць (rysavácʹ) (Belarusian)
      - рисова́ть (risovátʹ) (Russian)
      - рисува́ти (rysuváty) (Ukrainian)
*wrītan (Proto-West Germanic)
- wrītan (Old Saxon)
  - rîten (Middle Low German)
    - rieten (Low German)
ᚹᚱᚨᛁᛏᚨ (wraita) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - rita (Faroese)
  - rita (Icelandic)
  - rita (Norwegian)
ᚹᚱᚨᛁᛏᚨ (wraita) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - ritæ (Old Danish)
    - rite (Danish)
ᚹᚱᚨᛁᛏᚨ (wraita) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - rita (Old Swedish)
    - rita (Swedish)
ᚹᚨᚱᛡᛁᛏ (warᴀit) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - rita (Faroese)
  - rita (Icelandic)
  - rita (Norwegian)
ᚹᚨᚱᛡᛁᛏ (warᴀit) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - ritæ (Old Danish)
    - rite (Danish)
ᚹᚨᚱᛡᛁᛏ (warᴀit) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - rita (Old Swedish)
    - rita (Swedish)
ᚹᚨᚱᛁᛏᚢ (waritu) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - rita (Faroese)
  - rita (Icelandic)
  - rita (Norwegian)
ᚹᚨᚱᛁᛏᚢ (waritu) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - ritæ (Old Danish)
    - rite (Danish)
ᚹᚨᚱᛁᛏᚢ (waritu) (Proto-Norse)
- ríta, rita (Old Norse)
  - rita (Old Swedish)
    - rita (Swedish)

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