Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/swammaz
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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
Alternative forms
Etymology
Seemingly related to Ancient Greek σομφός (somphós, “spongy, porous (esp. of wood)”), with which it is traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *swombʰ- (“sponge; tree-fungus”), but the Greek cannot be of inherited Indo-European origin given its lack of the expected shift *sw > *hw. Likely ultimately of substrate or wanderwort origin. Such a substrate word may speculatively be related to the substrate sources of similar words in other languages, including Latin fungus (“mushroom, fungus”), Ancient Greek σπόγγος (spóngos)/σφόγγος (sphóngos, “sponge; tonsil”), Old Armenian սունկն (sunkn, “tree fungus”) and perhaps Proto-Balto-Slavic *gúmˀbas (“bulged, bloated”) (whence Lithuanian gum̃bas (“bulge”) and Proto-Slavic *gǫba (“fungus, mushroom; sponge; lip”)), which cannot be reconciled in terms of Proto-Indo-European. See also the variant *sumpaz (“swamp”).
Pronunciation
Noun
*swammaz m
Inflection
| masculine a-stemDeclension of *swammaz (masculine a-stem) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| singular | plural | ||
| nominative | *swammaz | *swammōz, *swammōs | |
| vocative | *swamm | *swammōz, *swammōs | |
| accusative | *swammą | *swammanz | |
| genitive | *swammas, *swammis | *swammǫ̂ | |
| dative | *swammai | *swammamaz | |
| instrumental | *swammō | *swammamiz | |
Related terms
Descendants
- Proto-West Germanic: *swamm, *swamb
- Old Norse: svǫppr, soppr, svampr
- Gothic: 𐍃𐍅𐌰𐌼𐌼𐍃 (swamms)