Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-ōz

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 1

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s (eh₂-stem genitive singular ending), from *-eh₂ (eh₂-stem suffix) +‎ *-s (genitive singular suffix). Compare Ancient Greek -ᾱς (-ās), -ης (-ēs), Old Latin -ās, and Lithuanian -os.

Suffix

*-ōz

1. Forms the genitive singular of ō-stem nouns.

   ‎*gebō (“gift”) + ‎*-ōz → ‎*gebōz (“gift's”)

Alternative reconstructions

• *-ôz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *-ā
  • Old English: -e (early -æ)
    • Middle English: -e (extended to the nominative)
  • Old Frisian: -e (extended to the nominative)
  • Old Saxon: -a (extended to the nominative)
  • Old Dutch: -a (extended to the nominative)
  • Old High German: -a (extended to the nominative)
• Old Norse: -ar
  • Icelandic: -ar
  • Faroese: -ar
  • Middle Norwegian: -ar
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: -ar (fossilized)
  • Old Swedish: -ar
• Gothic: -𐍉𐍃 (-ōs)

Etymology 2

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂m̥s (eh₂-stem accusative plural ending), from *-eh₂ (eh₂-stem suffix) +‎ *-s (genitive singular suffix). Compare Ancient Greek -ᾱς (-ās) (dialectal -ᾰς (-ăs), -αις (-ais), -ᾰνς (-ăns)), Latin -ās, Lithuanian -as, and Sanskrit -आः (-āḥ).

Suffix

*-ōz

1. Forms the accusative plural of ō-stem nouns.

   ‎*gebō (“gift”) + ‎*-ōz → ‎*gebō (“gifts”)

Alternative reconstructions

• *-ôz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *-ā, *-ą̄
  • Old Saxon: -a (rare)
    • Middle Low German: -e
      • German Low German: -e
  • Old Dutch: -a
    • Middle Dutch: -e
  • Old High German: -a, -ā
    • Middle High German: -e (Alemmanic -ā)
      • Alemannic German:

        Walser German: -a, -ä

      • German: -e
      • East Central German: -e
      • Rhine Franconian:

        Hessian: -e (Northern)

• Old Norse: -ar
  • Icelandic: -ar
  • Faroese: -ar
  • Middle Norwegian: -ar
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: -ar
    • Norwegian Bokmål: -er
  • Elfdalian: -er
  • Old Swedish: -ar, -ær
    • Swedish: -ar
  • Danish: -e
  • →? Old Frisian: -ar
• Gothic: -𐍉𐍃 (-ōs)

References

• Fulk, R. D. (2018), “Nouns”, in A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages (Studies in Germanic Linguistics; 3)‎^[1], Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, →ISBN, →LCCN, § 7.15, pages 155-156.
• Ringe, Donald (2006), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎^[2], 1st edition, Oxford: University Press, →ISBN, page 279