Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/

This Proto-Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-Germanic

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Uncertain. Possibly a fossilised form of the Proto-Indo-European thematic ablative *-eh₂d, in which case it would reflect earlier *-ôt before word-final -t was lost.

Adverb

edit

*-ô

  1. -ly. Creates adverbs of manner from adjectives.
Derived terms
edit
edit
Descendants
edit

This suffix lost its function in some Middle West Germanic languages, where adverbs eventually became identical to the base adjectives they were formed from.

  • Proto-West Germanic: *-ō
    • Old English: -o, -a
      • Middle English: -e (fossilised)
    • Old Frisian: -a
    • Old Saxon: -o
      • Middle Low German: -e
    • Old Dutch: -o
      • Middle Dutch: -e
    • Old High German: -o
      • Middle High German: -e
  • Old Norse: -a (may have merged with *-ê)
    • Icelandic: -a
    • Old Swedish: -a,
      • Swedish: -a (non-productive)
    • Danish: -e (non-productive)
  • Gothic: -𐍉 ()

Etymology 2

edit

From Proto-Indo-European *-ō. Proto-Germanic masculine n-stems continue Proto-Indo-European amphikinetic n-stems, meaning the vowel grade in the root, the suffix, and the ending alternated throughout the paradigm. Stem ablaut was not preserved in any later Germanic language, but it is indirectly tangible through such pairs as English corn and German Kern (seed). Suffix ablaut is clearly visible in the paradigm below, by way of the *ô ~ *a ~ *i alternation.[1]

Alternative forms

edit

Noun

edit

*-ô m

  1. -er. Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade form of the base.
Inflection
edit


Coordinate terms
edit
  • *-ǭ f (-ess)
Derived terms
edit
Descendants
edit
  • Proto-West Germanic: *-ō
    • Old English: -a
      • Middle English: -e (fossilised)
    • Old Frisian: -a
    • Old Saxon: -o
      • Middle Low German: -e
    • Old Dutch: -o
      • Middle Dutch: -e
    • Old High German: -o
      • Middle High German: -e
        • German: -e (fossilised)
  • Old Norse: -i (merged with *-jô in nominative singular)
    • Icelandic: -i
    • Old Swedish: -e
  • Gothic: -𐌰 (-a)

References

edit
  1. ^ Guus Kroonen (2011) The Proto-Germanic n-stems: a study in diachronic morphophonology (Leiden studies in Indo-European; 18), Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 35-36