Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/ters

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

Unknown; suggested to be related to *teran (“to tear, tug at”), from *der- (“to split”).^[1] Possibly cognate with Old Norse tjasna (“a pagan ritual nail or stake”).

Noun

*ters m

nail, peg
penis

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*ters
Genitive	*tersas
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*ters	tersō, tersōs
Accusative	*ters	*tersā
Genitive	*tersas	*tersō
Dative	*tersē	*tersum
Instrumental	*tersu	*tersum

Descendants

Old English: teors
- Middle English: ters, tars, tarse, tearse, terce
  - English: tarse
  - Scots: tars, ters
Old Saxon: *ters
- Middle Low German: tērs
  - → Norwegian: ters
Old Dutch: *ters
- Middle Dutch: *ters, teers
  - Dutch: teers, teerts, taarts
Old High German: zers
- Middle High German: zërs
  - German: Zers

References

^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “4. der-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), Bern, München: Francke Verlag

[1] Pokorny, Julius (1959) “4. der-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), Bern, München: Francke Verlag

[1]