An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/hangen
hangen, verb, ‘to hang, be suspended,’ from Middle High German hâhen (hienc, gehangen), Old High German hâhan (hiang, gihangan), strong verb; compare fangen, from Old High German fâhan: before h an n is suppressed (compare Old High German dâhta from denchan, dachte from denken; brachte, Old High German brâhta, from bringen). Corresponding to Dutch hangen, Anglo-Saxon hôn (hêng, hangen), English to hang, Gothic hâhan for *hanhan, strong verb, ‘to hang.’ In Modern High German, English, and Dutch, the old strong verb has been confused with the corresponding weak verb, so that the transitive and intransitive meanings have been combined; compare Dutch hangen, English to hang, ‘to suspend and to be suspended’; in Middle High German hâhen, is transitive and intransitive, while hangen (Old High German hangên, Anglo-Saxon hangian) is intransitive only, ‘to be suspended’; to this is allied Old High German and Middle High German hęngen, ‘to hang down (one's head), give a horse its head, permit, grant,’ compare henken. The Modern High German verb is due to a blending in sound of Middle High German hâhen (hangen) and hęngen, yet in meaning it represents only Middle High German hâhen, Old High German hâhan. Terms undoubtedly allied to the common Teutonic root hanh (hâh) are wanting in the other Aryan languages; Gothic hâhan, ‘to leave in doubt,’ has been compared with Latin cunctari, ‘to delay.’