Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/-astrijā

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Alternative reconstructions

*-istrijā^[1]

Etymology

Uncertain; multiple origins have been suggested, but none has received widespread approval.^[2]

Despite the similarity of the suffix to Vulgar Latin -istria, borrowing from it is now usually rejected because of the large number of Old English formations where this suffix is applied to native roots.
Davis and Bammesberger derive it from earlier -astrī (a neuter ja-stem; they see this form surviving in relics such as Old English eowestre) suffixed with *-jā, from Proto-Germanic *-astriją, itself a suffixation of *-istrą, *-astrą with *-ją.^[3]^[4]
Gąsiorowski instead considers this suffix to be an extension of earlier *-astri (an ī/jō-stem), with replacement of the unproductive ī/jō-stem endings with more common ōn-stem endings. He suggests that *-astri originates from Proto-Indo-European *-sr-ih₂, a zero-grade form of *-sōr suffixed with *-ih₂; he also suggests a relation to Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz (see *-ārī).^[5]

Suffix

*-astrijā f

-ress: Forms feminine agent nouns from verbs.
Coordinate term: *-ārī

Inflection

ōn-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*-astrijā
Genitive	*-astrijōn
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*-astrijā	*-astrijōn
Accusative	*-astrijōn	*-astrijōn
Genitive	*-astrijōn	*-astrijōnō
Dative	*-astrijōn	-astrijōm, -astrijum
Instrumental	*-astrijōn	-astrijōm, -astrijum

Descendants

Old English: -estre, -istræ, -istre, -ystre
- Middle English: -estere, -ester, -estre, -ister, -istre, -star, -stare, -ster, -stere, -uster, -ysstere
  - English: -ster
    - ⇒ English: -stress
  - Scots: -ster
Old Frisian: -ster, -stere
- Saterland Frisian: -ster
- West Frisian: -ster
Old Saxon: *-istra
- Middle Low German: -ester, -ster
Old Dutch: *-istra
- Middle Dutch: -ster, *-stere
  - Dutch: -ster
>? Old High German: *-astria
- ⇒ Old High German: wagastria

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “-ster”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ Paul Peterson (2013 January 1) “An Old Problem in Etymology Revisited: The Origin of Germanic Nouns with the Suffix -ster”, in Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik, volume 70, number 1, →DOI, pages 1–19
^ Alfred Bammesberger (2003 September) “The Provenance of the Old English Suffix -estre”, in North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE), volume 43, →DOI, pages 53–63
^ Garry W. Davis (1992 July) “OE-estre and PGmc. *-ārjaz: The origin and development of two agentive suffixes in Germanic”, in Journal of Germanic Linguistics, volume 4, number 2, →DOI, pages 103–116
^ Piotr Gąsiorowski (2017 November 17) “Cherchez la femme: Two Germanic suffixes, one etymology”, in Folia Linguistica Historica, volume 51, number s38, →DOI, pages 125–147

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “-ster”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

[2] Paul Peterson (2013 January 1) “An Old Problem in Etymology Revisited: The Origin of Germanic Nouns with the Suffix -ster”, in Amsterdamer Beiträge zur älteren Germanistik, volume 70, number 1, →DOI, pages 1–19

[3] Alfred Bammesberger (2003 September) “The Provenance of the Old English Suffix -estre”, in North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE), volume 43, →DOI, pages 53–63

[4] Garry W. Davis (1992 July) “OE-estre and PGmc. *-ārjaz: The origin and development of two agentive suffixes in Germanic”, in Journal of Germanic Linguistics, volume 4, number 2, →DOI, pages 103–116

[5] Piotr Gąsiorowski (2017 November 17) “Cherchez la femme: Two Germanic suffixes, one etymology”, in Folia Linguistica Historica, volume 51, number s38, →DOI, pages 125–147

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