Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/gudą

This Proto-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-Germanic

Etymology

Unknown. Traditionally derived from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰutóm (neuter past participle), either meaning “(that which is) invoked”, from *ǵʰewH- (“to call, to invoke”), or “libated, poured as part of a liquid offering”, from *ǵʰew- (“to pour”), perhaps via the earlier meaning of “[libation made to an] idol” or “spirit immanent in a burial mound”. However, the derivation from *ǵʰewH- would normally result in long ū, and the root *ǵʰew- only occurs in Germanic in the extended form *ǵʰewd-.

Another hypothesis is a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰutóm, connected to Old Church Slavonic говѣти (gověti, “to revere”). A non-Indo-European origin has also been proposed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɣu.ðɑ̃/

Noun

*gudą n

1. god, deity

   Synonyms: *ansuz, *tīwaz

Inflection

neuter a-stemDeclension of *gudą (neuter a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*gudą	*gudō
vocative	*gudą	*gudō
accusative	*gudą	*gudō
genitive	*gudas, *gudis	*gudǫ̂
dative	*gudai	*gudamaz
instrumental	*gudō	*gudamiz

Reconstruction notes

The word was originally neuter, but with the spread of Christianity it eventually became masculine when referring to the Christian god.

Derived terms

• *gudahūsą
• *gudalausaz
• *gudjô
• *Gudagebō
• *gudawabją
• *gudafurhtaz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *god
  • Old English: god
    • Middle English: god
      • Scots: god, God
      • English: god, God
      • Yola: gud, Gud
  • Old Frisian: god
    • North Frisian:
      • Föhr-Amrum: God
    • Saterland Frisian: God
    • West Frisian: god, God
  • Old Saxon: god
    • Middle Low German: gad, god
      • Low German: Gott
      • Plautdietsch: Gott
  • Old Dutch: got
    • Middle Dutch: got
      • Dutch: god, God
        • Afrikaans: god, God
      • Limburgish: gód, Gód
  • Old High German: got, cot
    • Middle High German: got
      • Alemannic German: Gott
      • Bavarian:

        Cimbrian: Gott

        Mòcheno: Gott

      • Central Franconian: Jott
      • German: Gott
      • Hunsrik: Gott
      • Luxembourgish: Gott
      • Yiddish: גאָט (got)
• Old Norse: goð n, guð m, ᚴᚢᚦ (kuþ), ᚷᚢᛞ (ɢuᴅ), ᚷᚢᚦ (ɢuþ) — Runic form
  • Icelandic: goð n
  • Icelandic: guð m
  • Faroese: Gud, gudur
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: gud m
  • Elfdalian: guð
  • Old Swedish: guþ n or m
    • Swedish: gud
  • Danish: gud c
    • Norwegian Bokmål: gud
    • → Greenlandic: guuti
  • Gutnish: gud, gu
• Gothic: 𐌲𐌿𐌸 (guþ)

Further reading

• Watkins, Calvert, ed., The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed., Houghton Mifflin Co., 2000.
• Heinrich Meidinger, Vergleichendes etymologisches Wörterbuch der gothisch-teutonischen Mundarten, 1833], page 159
• Fick, August (1909) Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen (in German), 4th edition, volume III, bearbeitet von Adalbert Bezzenberger, Hjalmar Falk, August Fick, Whitley Stokes, Alf Torp, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, page 136