Gämse

German edit

Alternative forms edit

Gams (chiefly Bavarian, but more widespread in Gamswild, Gamsbock)
Gemse (superseded spelling)

Etymology edit

From Middle High German gemeze, from Old High German gamiza (form only attested in a 13th-century manuscript). The variant Gams f is from Middle High German gamz m, f, n, from Old High German *gamuz or *gamaz (probably a masculine or neuter). These forms can be derived from Vulgar Latin *camōcius m, *camōcia f, which also underlie most of the dialectal Romance forms in Switzerland and northern Italy, probably from an extinct Alpine language (such as Raetic or Ancient Ligurian), eventually perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *kem- (“without horns”), though this is speculative. A more western form of the same word is attested in Late Latin camōx (5th century).

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ˈɡɛmzə/
Audio (file)
Rhymes: -ɛmzə

Noun edit

Gämse f (genitive Gämse, plural Gämsen)

chamois (Rupicapra rupicapra)

Usage notes edit

The spelling Gämse has been the prescribed spelling since the German spelling reform of 1996 (the Rechtschreibreform). In the affected areas, the previous spelling (Gemse) is now less common, and may be regarded as a misspelling.

Declension edit

Declension of Gämse [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Gämse	die	Gämsen
genitive	einer	der	Gämse	der	Gämsen
dative	einer	der	Gämse	den	Gämsen
accusative	eine	die	Gämse	die	Gämsen

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

→ Dutch: gems
- → West Frisian: gems
→ Slovene: gams

References edit

Roberts, Edward A. (2014) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Spanish Language with Families of Words based on Indo-European Roots, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN