Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/Masō
Proto-Germanic
editEtymology
editFrom a Celtic language, presumably Proto-Celtic *Mosā. Despite the obvious similarities, the name is not derived from Latin Mosa. It shows evidence of the change from of o to a; this is known to have occurred before the first contact of Germanic people with the Romans, but probably after first contact with the Celts. Most likely, Latin and Germanic both borrowed the name from Celtic independently.
Albrecht Greule writes that its ultimate origin is unclear, but could perhaps be Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d-, whence Latin madeō (“I am wet”) and Ancient Greek μεστός (mestós, “full”).[1] Or, from Proto-Indo-European *mā- (“to stupefy”) in the sense of the river's tortuousness, cognate with Proto-Germanic *masōną (“to confound, be weary, dream”) (modern English maze), Welsh mydu (“to vault, arch”), Old Norse meis (“curvatura”).[2]
Pronunciation
editProper noun
edit*Masō f
- the river Meuse
Inflection
editō-stemDeclension of *Masō (ō-stem) | |||
---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
nominative | *Masō | *Masôz | |
vocative | *Masō | *Masôz | |
accusative | *Masǭ | *Masōz | |
genitive | *Masōz | *Masǫ̂ | |
dative | *Masōi | *Masōmaz | |
instrumental | *Masō | *Masōmiz |
Descendants
edit- Proto-West Germanic: *Masu
References
edit- ^ Greule, Albrecht (2014) “Maas”, in Deutsches Gewässernamenbuch: Etymologie der Gewässernamen und der dazugehörigen Gebiets-, Siedlungs- und Flurnamen, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 333b
- ^ Ferguson, Robert (1862): The River-names of Europe, p. 142
- Proto-Germanic terms derived from Celtic languages
- Proto-Germanic terms derived from Proto-Celtic
- Proto-Germanic terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Proto-Germanic terms with IPA pronunciation
- Proto-Germanic lemmas
- Proto-Germanic proper nouns
- Proto-Germanic feminine nouns
- gem-pro:Rivers
- Proto-Germanic ō-stem nouns