An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Hahn

by Friedrich Kluge

Hahn, m., ‘cock,’ from MidHG. han, OHG. hano, m.; comp. AS. hana (as well as cocc, E. cock), OIc. hane, Goth. hana, m.; a common Teut. word for ‘cock,’ with the stem hanan-, hanin-, which is common to the OTeut. dialects. A corresponding fem. Henne is merely West Teut.; OHG. hęnna, MidHG. and ModHG. hęnne, f., AS. hęnn. On the other hand, Huhn seems to be really of common gender; it may at least be applied in OHG. to ‘cock’ also; comp. Otfried’s êr thaȥ huan singe, ‘before the cock crows,’ lit. ‘sings.’ In this passage we have a confirmation of the fact that the crowing of the cock was regarded as its song. The term Hahn by general acceptation signifies ‘singer.’ With this word, according to the laws of substitution, the stem of Lat. canere, ‘to sing’ (comp. Lith. gaidýs, ‘cock,’ lit. ‘singer,’ allied to gêdoti, ‘to sing’). A fem., ‘songstress,’ of Huhn is hardly conceivable; thus it follows that Henne is merely a recent West Teut. form. The common gender Huhn, however, can hardly be connected with the root kan, ‘to sing,’ since it is, at least, a primit. form. The method of its formation, as the name of the agent, has no analogies.