Reconstruction:Latin/abismus

This Latin 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.

Latin

Etymology

From Late Latin abyssus, with a suffix of uncertain provenance. Perhaps -ismus (borrowed from Greek) or -issimus, with a loss of the second /i/ and some kind of haplology, ending with a change in stress position.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈbismos/

Noun

*abīsmus m (Proto-Western-Romance)

1. abyss

Declension

	singular	plural
nominative	*/aˈbismos/	*/aˈbismi/
oblique	*/aˈbismu/	*/aˈbismos/

Descendants

• Occitano-Romance:
  • Catalan: abisme
  • Occitan: abisme
• Gallo-Romance:
  • >? Old French: abisme
    • French: abîme
    • → Middle English: abime
      • English: abysm
    • →? Piedmontese: abim
• Ibero-Romance:
  • Asturian: abismu
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: abismo, avismo
    • Galician: abismo
    • Portuguese: abismo
      • Papiamentu: abismo
  • Old Spanish: avismo
    • Spanish: abismo

References

• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “abyssus”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volumes 24: Refonte A–Aorte, page 64