Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fedwōr

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 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

From pre-Grimm *petwṓr, with an irregular consonant change from *kʷetwṓr, the neuter form of Proto-Indo-European *kʷetwóres (“four”).[1] 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.[2]

Pronunciation

Numeral

Proto-Germanic cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : *fedwōr
    Ordinal : *fedurþô
    Multiplier : *feþurfalþaz
    Prefix : *feþur-

*fedwōr

  1. four

Inflection

The declension for all three genders is identical.

Declension of *fedwōr (irregular)
all genders
plural
nominative *fedwōr
accusative *fedwōr
genitive *fedurǫ̂
dative *fedurmaz
instrumental *fedurmiz


Derived terms

Descendants

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”).

References

  1. ^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*fedwar-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 133
  2. ^ Ringe, Donald (2006) From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN
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