An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/singen

by Friedrich Kluge

singen, vb., ‘to sing, chant,’ from the equiv. MidHG. singen, OHG. and OSax. singan; a common Teut. vb. occurring in the same sense in all the dials.; comp. Goth. seggwan, OIc. syngva, AS. singan, E. to sing, Du. zingen (yet Goth. also ‘to read,’ OHG. also ‘to crow’). The Teut. root singw, which appears also in Sang, &c., is only doubtfully related to some terms in the non-Teut. languages; it is said to be primit. allied to sagen (Teut. root sag, from Aryan seq), and to this there is no phonetic objection. It is more probably connected with Gr. ὀμφή, ‘voice, speech, oracle,’ if a pre-historic root sengh be assumed. Comp. sengen, and, for other Teut. artistic expressions, Lied and Harfe.