Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-ǭ

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.

Partial merger of Proto-Indo-European *-ō(n) and Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ (see also *-ō). The former originally conjugated as Proto-Indo-European amphikinetic n-stems, but because of the *ā > *ō sound change they came to coincide with the latter in the nominative singular, which lead to the suffix ablaut being lost. Why the feminine and masculine *-ō(n) sounded differently in Germanic though, despite having originally sounded the same, is an open question.^[1]

• IPA^(key): /ɔ̃ː/

• *-ōn

*-ǭ f

2. -ess. Forms agent nouns, often from the zero-grade form of the base.

• *-ô m (“-er”)

• Proto-West Germanic: *-ā
  • Old English: -e
  • Old Frisian: -e
  • Old Saxon: -a
  • Old Dutch: -a
  • Old High German: -a
• Old Norse: -a
  • Icelandic: -a
  • Old Swedish: -a
    • Swedish: -a
• Gothic: -𐍉 (-ō)