hycgan

• hyċġġan, hyċġean, hiċġan, hyġġean, hyċċan

From Proto-West Germanic *huggjan, from Proto-Germanic *hugjaną (“think, consider”). Cognate with Old Saxon huggian, Old High German huggen, Old Norse hyggja, Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌲𐌾𐌰𐌽 (hugjan).

• IPA^(key): /ˈxyj.jɑn/, [ˈhyd.d͡ʒɑn]

hyċġan

1. to think
   • 10th century, The Wanderer:

     …þæt biþ in eorle · indryhten þēaw,
     þæt hē his ferðlocan · fæste binde,
     healde his hordcōfan; · hyċġe swā hē wille.

     …that a noble habit is in a brave man,
     that he would tightly bind his spirit,
     keep his treasure-chamber; think as he want.

2. to think about, to think of, to consider
   • "The Wife's Lament"

     Ongunnon þæt þæs mannes māgas hyċġan þurh dierne ġeþōht þæt hīe tōdǣlden unc.

     The person's relatives began to think of a secret plan to separate us.

The class III weak verbs were all subject to some degree of remodeling in Old English. In hyċġan this can be seen in the variant pret. stem hyġd-, with the root vowel extended from the rest of the paradigm. The other class III verbs show the influence of class II forms, but in this case there was already the closely related hogian. There was therefore pressure to either simply use that verb instead, making it the more common of the two, especially later in the period, or to further differentiate from it, which may explain the unusually conservative appearance of this paradigm, despite the lower incidence compared to the other class III verbs.

• ġehyġd
• hogian

• Middle English: *huggen, *higgen, heoȝen
  • >? Scots: huke, huik