Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/amslā

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Etymology

Uncertain. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ems- (“blackbird”), cognate with Latin merula (“blackbird, wrasse”), Proto-Celtic *mesalkā (“blackbird”);^[1] particularly, it could reflect an s-stem with a diminutive suffix *-lā.^[2] The irregular correspondences and limited distribution of the word, however, may be more easily explained as separate borrowings from a substrate source.^[3]^[2]

Noun

*amslā f^[4]^[1]

blackbird

Inflection

ōn-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*amslā
Genitive	*amslōn
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*amslā	*amslōn
Accusative	*amslōn	*amslōn
Genitive	*amslōn	*amslōnō
Dative	*amslōn	amslōm, amslum
Instrumental	*amslōn	amslōm, amslum

Related terms

*amaʀō (“~bunting”)

Descendants

Old English: ōsle, ōslae — early
- Middle English: osel, osele, osul, osulle, osyll
  - English: oozel, ousel, ouzel (dialectal)
  - Scots: osil
Old Saxon: amsla
- Middle Low German: amsel, amelse
  - German Low German: Amsel
  - Plautdietsch: Aumsel
  - → English: amzel
Old High German: amsala, amsla, amasla, amusla, amisla
- Middle High German: amsel
  - German: Amsel

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Amsel”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 26: “wg. *amslōn”
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Guus Kroonen (2013) “*amslōn-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 25–26
^ Schrijver, Peter (1997) “Animal, vegetable and mineral: some Western European substratum words”, in Lubotsky, A., editor, Sound Law and Analogy‎, Amsterdam/Atlanta, pages 293–316
^ Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 141: “PWGmc *amslā”

[EWddS-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Amsel”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 26: “wg. *amslōn”

[EDPG-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Guus Kroonen (2013) “*amslōn-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 25–26

[3] Schrijver, Peter (1997) “Animal, vegetable and mineral: some Western European substratum words”, in Lubotsky, A., editor, Sound Law and Analogy‎, Amsterdam/Atlanta, pages 293–316

[4] Ringe, Donald, Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 141: “PWGmc *amslā”

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