Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/himinaz

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

Etymology

Unclear, but possibly descending from Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱmō (“stone?”) with heavy remodelling, including apparent metathesis similar to Proto-Slavic *kamy. The difference in meaning seems to be bridged by Ancient Greek ἄκμων (ákmōn), meaning among other things 'meteorite'. Kroonen suggests 'heavenly vault' as the original meaning. Compare also Iranian cognates such as Persian آسمان (âsemân, âsmân, “sky, heaven”).

Kroonen proposes descent primarily from the genitive *h₂ḱm̥nós, yielding first in Germanic a paradigm with nominative *hemō, genitive *hemnaz, dative *hemeni, later levelled further to give two parallel stems *hemina- and *hemna-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈxi.mi.nɑz/

Noun

*himinaz m

1. cloud cover
2. sky

Declension

masculine a-stemDeclension of *himinaz (masculine a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*himinaz	*himinōz, *himinōs
vocative	*himin	*himinōz, *himinōs
accusative	*himiną	*himinanz
genitive	*himinas, *himinis	*himinǫ̂
dative	*himinai	*himinamaz
instrumental	*himinō	*himinamiz

Derived terms

• *uppahiminaz

Descendants

• >? Proto-West Germanic: *hebun (see there for further descendants)
• >? Proto-West Germanic: *himil (see there for further descendants)
• Old Norse: himinn, hifinn
  • Icelandic: himinn, hifinn
  • Faroese: himin
  • Old Swedish: himin
  • Old Danish: himæn
  • Old Gutnish: himin
• Gothic: 𐌷𐌹𐌼𐌹𐌽𐍃 (himins)