Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hrātu

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.

Unknown; possibly from Proto-Germanic *hrētō, from a metathesized form of Proto-Indo-European *ker-d- (“to twist, weave”), suffixed form of *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Albanian krodhë (“beehive”). Compare also Proto-Germanic *hrōtą (“roof”) and Proto-Slavic *korda (“pile of logs”).^[1]

*hrātu f

1. honeycomb

The initial *h- is not attested in any Germanic descendant, however can be reconstructed from the Latin loanword frata, which substituted f- for this sound, as the velar fricative was foreign to Latin.

• Old Dutch: rāta
  • Middle Dutch: râte
    • Dutch: raat
• Old High German: rāza
  • Middle High German: Raz
    • German: Roß
    • Luxembourgish: Ros
• → Vulgar Latin: *hrata
  • Old French: ree, raie (dated abt. 1130)
    • Middle French: rayon, royon (“shelf, compartment, honeycomb”)
      • French: rayon
  • Late Latin: frata (dated 8th-century)