Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/līką

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 1

From Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image, likeness; similar, like”), with semantic shift "similar" > "having a similar shape" > "likeness" > "body". Cognate with Lithuanian lýgus (“equal, level, flat, even, like”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliː.kɑ̃/

Noun

*līką n

1. body

   Synonyms: *būkaz, *hrefaz

2. corpse, dead body

   Synonym: *līkahamô

Inflection

Declension of *līką (neuter a-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	*līką	*līkō
vocative	*līką	*līkō
accusative	*līką	*līkō
genitive	*līkas, *līkis	*līkǫ̂
dative	*līkai	*līkamaz
instrumental	*līkō	*līkamiz

Derived terms

• *līkahamô

Related terms

• *-līkaz
• *līkāną

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *līk
  • Old English: līċ
    • Middle English: lik, lich
      • Scots: lyke
      • English: lich, like
  • Old Frisian: līk
    • Saterland Frisian: Lieke
    • West Frisian: lyk
  • Old Saxon: līk
    • Middle Low German: lîk
      • Low German: Lieke
        • German Low German: Liek
      • Plautdietsch: Leich, Leiche
      • → Latvian: līķis
  • Old Dutch: līk
    • Middle Dutch: lijc
      • Dutch: lijk
        • Afrikaans: lyk
  • Old High German: līh
    • Middle High German: lîch, lîche, leich
      • Central Franconian: Lich
      • Bavarian: Leich
      • German: Leiche
      • Luxembourgish: Läich
• Old Norse: lík
  • Icelandic: lík
  • Faroese: lík
  • Norn: lik
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: lik
  • Old Swedish: līk
    • Swedish: lik
  • Old Danish: līk
    • Danish: lig
      • Norwegian Bokmål: lik
  • Scanian: læj
  • Gutnish: leik
• Gothic: 𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌺 (leik)

Etymology 2

Probably Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to bind”), and cognate with Latin ligō (“to bind”). Kroonen, in addition to the above theory, offers an alternative suggestion that the word is a semantic extension of the "body" sense above, with semantic association "to connect" > "to compare" > "to be alike".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliː.kɑ̃/

Noun

*līką n

1. leech-line, bolt-rope

Descendants

• English: leech
• Dutch: lijk
• Middle Low German: līk
• Middle High German: geleich (“joint, link”)
• Old Norse: lík
• Danish: lig