Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/helm

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 1

From Proto-Germanic *helmaz.

Noun

*helm m

1. helmet

Inflection

Derived terms

• *helmōn
• *hilmijan

Descendants

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *helmaz, related to *halmaz (“haulm, straw, hay; stalk”) (whence *halm). The ablaut points to an older athematic paradigm in Proto-Indo-European, according to Kroonen probably *ḱélh₂m̥ ~ *ḱl̥h₂mós; compare Lithuanian kélmas (“tree trunk”). The o-grade in *halmaz and cognates such as Latin culmus, Proto-Slavic *sòlma and Latvian sal̃ms may have come either from an accusative stem *ḱolh₂-m- or by analogy with the thematic suffix *-(ó)-mos. In any case ultimately from the root *ḱelh₂- (“to prick, stab; straw, reed”).

Noun

*helm m

1. a reedy grass that dries as hollow stalks: bentgrass (genus Agrostis or Ammophila); sedge
2. Synonym of *halm (“stalk, haulm, straw”)

Inflection

Related terms

• *halm
• ^? *helmō, *halmō (“rudder, tiller; helm (of a boat)”)

Descendants

• Old English: *helm
  • Middle English: helm
    • English: helm (“stalk, haulm; bentgrass”)
• Old Dutch: *helm
  • Middle Dutch: *helm
    • Dutch: helm
• Low German: helm (“sedge; marram grass”)
  • → Danish: hjælme
  • → Icelandic: hjálmur

References