From pre-Grimm *petwṓr, with an irregular consonant change from *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres. The consonant change was probably caused by the influence of the *p- in the word for "five", *pénkʷe. The expected outcome would have been **hwedwōr.
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Cardinal : *fedwōr Ordinal : *fedurþô Multiplier : *feþurfalþaz Prefix : *feþur- | ||
*fedwōr
The declension for all three genders is identical.
all genders | ||
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plural | ||
nominative | *fedwōr | |
accusative | *fedwōr | |
genitive | *fedurǫ̂ | |
dative | *fedurmaz | |
instrumental | *fedurmiz |
In North and West Germanic, the form lost its *-d-, from which the attested forms are descended. In Old Norse, this would have given *fjór, but plural adjective endings were then added to this form. Though the middle consonant is only preserved in Gothic, a fossil is found in Old Norse fjaðryndaland (“the land of four hundreds”).