Learn English – Is the verb “to steer” derived from driving oxen

etymology

While answering another question, I read through the Online Etymology Dictionary's entry on steer:

steer (v.)
"guide the course of a vehicle," Old English steran (Mercian), stieran (West Saxon), from Proto-Germanic *steurijanan (cf. Old Norse
styra, Old Frisian stiora, Dutch sturen, Old High German stiuren,
German steuern "to steer," Gothic stiurjan "to establish, assert"),
related to *steuro "a rudder, a steering" (cf. Old English steor
"helm, rudder," German Steuer and first element in starboard), from
PIE *steu-ro- (cf. Greek stauros "stake, pole"), from root *sta- "to
stand" (see stet).

The notion is of a stiff, upright pillar or post used in steering. To steer clear of in the figurative sense of "to avoid completely" is recorded from 1723. Related: Steered; steering. Steering committee in the U.S. political sense is recorded from 1887.

steer (n.)
"young ox," Old English steor "bullock," from Proto-Germanic *steuraz (cf. Old Saxon stior, Old Norse stjorr, Swedish tjur, Danish tyr, Middle Dutch, Dutch, German stier, Gothic stiur "bull"), perhaps from PIE *steu-ro-, a root denoting "strength, sturdiness" (see taurus).

So, both the verb and the noun are traced back to the same Proto Indo-European root meaning "strength, sturdiness". The etymology I have posted does not link the two beyond suggesting that they have independently arisen from the same root.

This kind of convergent evolution goes very much against my training as a biologist which has taught me to look for the most parsimonious explanation of an observed lineage. In this case, that would be to have one sense of the term develop from the other. At the time when these words entered English, the only things people could steer (drive) were various types of boats and carts. Carts which were often pulled by oxen, by steers.

I would guess that steering as a verb developed from driving steer drawn carts. Is there any evidence for my suggestion or am I just spinning pretty stories?

Best Answer

Ah, I see I should have read more closely.
I actually did some research that touches on this.

The ST- assonance (initial consonant cluster) has a long and varied and surprisingly coherent phonosemantic history, dating from a pre-Proto-Indo-European era.

I tripped over ST- while trying to figure out what style meant, in a paper on metaphors, for a literary journal named Style. As usual, there was a lot more stuff going on than I had expected.

The paper is called "Style Stands Still", and I see no reason to reproduce it here, since it's online. (The stuff about ST- starts on page 8, but it's built on the context of the first part; the paper is 20 pages long, with bibliography).

EDIT: By request, a brief excerpt from the paper:

Figure 1. st-initial PIE roots, with some reflexes in Modern English
Source: Watkins (2000), Pokorny (1959)

  • *stā- ‘To stand, with derivatives meaning “place or thing that is standing”’ (Pok sta- 1004)
    style, stand, steed, stud, stay, stage, stamen, standard, stem, station, stasis, static, status, stable, stoic, store, stylite, steer
  • *steigh- ‘To stride, step, rise’ (Pok steigh- 1017)
    stile, stirrup, stickle, distich, acrostic
  • *steu- ‘To push, stick, knock, beat’ (Pok 2. steu- 1025)
    stub, steeple, stoop, stutter, stock, stoke, steep
  • *stel- ‘To put, stand; with derivatives referring to a standing object or place’ (Pok 3. stel- 1019)
    stolon, stalk, stele, stilt, pedestal, stolid, stall, stout
  • *ster- ‘Stiff’ (Pok 5. ster- 1029)
    stare, starch, stork, starve, stark, stern, strut, start, stark, startle
  • *stebh- ‘Post, stem; to support, place firmly on, fasten’ (Pok steb(h)- 1011)
    stoop, staff, staple, stump, stamp, stomp, stave
  • *steip- ‘To stick, compress’ (Pok steib(h)- 1015)
    stubble, stiff, stipple
  • *steg- ‘Pole, stick’ (Pok 2. (s)teg- 1014)
    stake, stack, stagger
  • *stegh- ‘To stick, prick; pointed’ (Pok stegh- 1014)
    stair, stick, sting, stigma, stimulate, stag

There is a strong family resemblance among the roots here. Indeed, on perusing this list, one finds a persistent cognitive image building up, with at least the following four significant perceptual properties:

Figure 2. Cognitive semantic properties of st-initial PIE roots

  1. One-Dimensional: The image has only one salient major dimension
  2. Vertical: That dimension is situated in an up-and-down orientation
  3. Strong: The image displays rigidity, stability, and physical integrity
  4. Still: The image is either unmoving, or frozen in motion

...

Not all of the characteristics in Figure 2 will be true of every Modern English word that comes from the roots in Figure 1, but some combination of the features applies to them all. For instance, although the Modern English words stamen, stile, steeple, stalk, stork, staff, stake, and stick each come from a different PIE root, all of them refer either to long rigid objects or to things characterized by such, mostly vertically oriented, and often supporting, attached, or applied to other structures by their ends. For that matter, they tend to apply to any Modern English word beginning with st-, no matter where it comes from.

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