Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kwenǭ

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 Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn (“woman”).^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈkʷe.nɔ̃ː/

Noun

*kwenǭ f

woman

Inflection

ōn-stemDeclension of *kwenǭ (ōn-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*kwenǭ	*kwenōniz
vocative	*kwenǭ	*kwenōniz
accusative	*kwenōnų	*kwenōnunz
genitive	*kwenōniz	*kwenōnǫ̂
dative	*kwenōni	*kwenōmaz
instrumental	*kwenōnē	*kwenōmiz

Related terms

*kwēniz

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *kwenā
- Old English: cwene
  - Middle English: quene
    - Scots: quean, quein, quine, quin
    - English: quean
- Old Saxon: quena
  - Middle Low German: quēne, quêne, kôn (merged with Old Saxon quān)
    - Low German: Quene
      - → German: Queene
- Old Dutch: *quena
  - Middle Dutch: quene, kone
    - Dutch: kween
      - Afrikaans: kween
- Old High German: chuuena, quena
  - Middle High German: kone, kan, kun, quëne
    - German: Kone (obsolete)
Old Norse: kona (gen. plur. kvenna, kvinna)
- Icelandic: kona (gen. plur. kvenna, kvinna)
- Faroese: kona, kvinna
- Norwegian Bokmål: kone, kvinne
- Norwegian Nynorsk: kone, kvinne
- Old Swedish: kona, kuna (gen. plur. kvinna, kvænna)
  - Swedish: kåna, kona, kvinna
- Old Danish: kona, konæ
  - Danish: kone, kvinde
- → Norman: guênipe, guénipe (Jèrriais)
- → French: guenipe
Gothic: 𐌵𐌹𐌽𐍉 (qinō)

References

^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*kwenōn-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 317

[1] Guus Kroonen (2013) “*kwenōn-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 317

[1]