Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/middjahrif

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

Etymology

From *midi (“middle, mid”) +‎ *hrif (“body, torso”).

Noun

*middjahrif n

1. midriff

Inflection

z-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*middjahhrif
Genitive	*middjahhrifiʀi
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*middjahhrif	*middjahhrifiʀu
Accusative	*middjahhrif	*middjahhrifiʀu
Genitive	*middjahhrifiʀi	*middjahhrifiʀō
Dative	*middjahhrifiʀi	*middjahhrifiʀum
Instrumental	*middjahhrifiʀi	*middjahhrifiʀum

Descendants

• Old English: midhrif, midrif
  • Middle English: midref, mydrif, mydref, midrif
    • English: midriff
• Old Frisian: midrof
• Middle Dutch: *midref
  • Middle Dutch: middelrijf
    • Dutch: middenrif, (archaic) middelrif

Further reading

• Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*hrefiz-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 244: “midja-hrefiz-”