An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/schweigen

by Friedrich Kluge

schweigen, vb., ‘to keep silence, be silent,’ from the equiv. MidHG. swîgen, OHG. swigên; comp. OSax. swîgôn, Du. swijgen, OFris. swîgia, AS. swī̆gian, ‘to be silent.’ The connection with Gr. σϊγάω, σῖγή, ‘silence,’ is undoubted, in spite of the abnormal correspondence of Gr. γ to Teut. g (for k); we must assume a double Aryan root swī̆g, swī̆q (the latter for the West Teut. words). ModHG. schweigen, vb., ‘to silence,’ from MidHG. and OHG. sweigen, ‘to reduce to silence,’ is a factitive of the foregoing schweigen.