Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/þwīnaną

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

From Proto-Indo-European *dʰgʷʰey- (“to decline, perish”). According to Kroonen the development of the initial consonant cluster was unstable, leading to the doublets *dwīnaną and *swīnaną.

An older hypothesis compares Ancient Greek σῑ́νομαι (sī́nomai, “to damage, injure, devastate, plunder”), itself of disputed origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈθwiː.nɑ.nɑ̃/

Verb

*þwīnaną

1. to dwindle, to disappear

Inflection

Conjugation of *þwīnaną (strong class 1)

	active voice			passive voice
present tense	indicative	subjunctive	imperative	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*þwīnō	*þwīnaų	—	*þwīnai	?
2nd singular	*þwīnizi	*þwīnaiz	*þwīn	*þwīnazai	*þwīnaizau
3rd singular	*þwīnidi	*þwīnai	*þwīnadau	*þwīnadai	*þwīnaidau
1st dual	*þwīnōz	*þwīnaiw	—	—	—
2nd dual	*þwīnadiz	*þwīnaidiz	*þwīnadiz	—	—
1st plural	*þwīnamaz	*þwīnaim	—	*þwīnandai	*þwīnaindau
2nd plural	*þwīnid	*þwīnaid	*þwīnid	*þwīnandai	*þwīnaindau
3rd plural	*þwīnandi	*þwīnain	*þwīnandau	*þwīnandai	*þwīnaindau
past tense	indicative	subjunctive
1st singular	*þwain	*þwinį̄
2nd singular	*þwaint	*þwinīz
3rd singular	*þwain	*þwinī
1st dual	*þwinū	*þwinīw
2nd dual	*þwinudiz	*þwinīdiz
1st plural	*þwinum	*þwinīm
2nd plural	*þwinud	*þwinīd
3rd plural	*þwinun	*þwinīn
	present	past
participles	*þwīnandz	*þwinanaz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *þwīnan
  • Old English: þwīnan
• Old Norse: þvína
  • Swedish: tvina
  • Danish: tvine