Reconstruction:Old High German/zungal
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This Old High German 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. |
Old High German[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Proto-Germanic *tunglą, whence Old English tungol, Old Norse tungl, Gothic 𐍄𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌻 (tuggl) (gloss on Galatians 4:3). The further etymology is unknown; Pokorny reconstructs a PIE root *dengh- "to shine" just from this Germanic word and a Baltic word for "to seem, to appear" (Lithuanian diñga). Grimm in his Teutonic Mythology opined that "no doubt", the word was a derivation from Proto-Germanic *tungǭ "lingua", offering the explanation that "the moon and some of the planets, when partially illuminated, do present the appearance of a tongue or sickle" but admits that he knows of no parallel to this in other language and adds the footnote "or was the twinkling of the stars likened to a tingling [züngeln]"[1]. The meaning "moon", which is already found in Old Icelandic prose, is secondary, as evidenced by the surviving Icelandic compound himintungl (= Old English heofontungol, Old High German himilzungal, Old Saxon himiltungal) for "star".
Noun[edit]
*zungal n
- star (astrum, sidus), heavenly body
Declension[edit]
| case | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | *zungal | *zungal |
| accusative | *zungal | *zungal |
| genitive | *zungales | *zungalo |
| dative | *zungale | *zungalum |
| instrumental | *zungalu | — |
Derived terms[edit]
References[edit]
- Richard Cleasby and Gudbrand Vigfusson, An Icelandic-English Dictionary, 1874, s.v. "tungl".