Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/mēlą
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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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From Proto-Indo-European *meHlom; in regards to the further root, Kroonen etymologically sifts out the senses, which appear to have been conflated in descendants, as follows:
- For the "point in time, meal" sense, from the same origin as either the "measurement" or "spot" senses below.[1]
- For the "spot, mark" sense, from the root *melh₂- (“dark”), whence also Ancient Greek μέλᾱς (mélās, “dark”), Lithuanian mė́las (“blue”).[2]
- For the "measurement" sense, from *meh₁- (“to measure”).[3]
Compare also Latin semel (“once”).
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]*mēlą n
Inflection
[edit]| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | *mēlą | *mēlō |
| vocative | *mēlą | *mēlō |
| accusative | *mēlą | *mēlō |
| genitive | *mēlas, *mēlis | *mēlǫ̂ |
| dative | *mēlai | *mēlamaz |
| instrumental | *mēlō | *mēlamiz |
Derived terms
[edit]Descendants
[edit]- Proto-West Germanic: *māl (“time, mealtime”)
- Old Norse: mál (“measurement, time”)
- Gothic: 𐌼𐌴𐌻 n (mēl, “time, writing”), 𐌼𐌴𐌻𐌰 f (mēla, “measurement”)
- → Proto-Samic: *mālē (“soup, animal blood”) (see there for further descendants)
References
[edit]- ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*mēla- 1 n. 'point in time'”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 362
- ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*mēla- 2 n. 'spot, mark'”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 362
- ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*mēla- 3 n. 'measure, amount'”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)[3], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 362