Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/panningaz

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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

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Of unclear origin. Many regard the forms without the medial *-t- or *-d- as the older ones because the Slavic and Lithuanian loans (Proto-Slavic *pěnędzь) do not show the reflex of a medial obstruent, which makes it difficult to connect with *pandan- (pledge) (Old High German phant) or their possible etymon, Latin pondus (weight). The second part of the word is probably *-ingaz. The first part is possibly a borrowing of one of these Latin words:

  • panna (pan), with a semantic shift explained as a penny being a "coin with a concave form" (per De Vries/De Tollenaere), or
  • pannus (piece of cloth), because cloth was often used as means of payment.

Vennemann suggests another possibility, following from his (controversial) Punic superstrate theory: that *paning may derive from Carthaginian traders' jargon use of Punic 𐤐𐤍 (pn /⁠pani⁠/, face) to mean "coin", as almost all Carthaginian coins depicted the face of Tanit (a goddess who was herself known as the "face of Baal"), and even the second-most common motif was the face of Melqart; Vennemann further speculates that the variants *panning and *panding preserved the bimoric nature of the Punic word.[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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*panningaz, *pandingaz, *pantingaz m

  1. a coin, penny

Inflection

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masculine a-stemDeclension of *panningaz (masculine a-stem)
singular plural
nominative *panningaz *panningōz, *panningōs
vocative *panning *panningōz, *panningōs
accusative *panningą *panninganz
genitive *panningas, *panningis *panningǫ̂
dative *panningai *panningamaz
instrumental *panningō *panningamiz

Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Vennemann, Theo (2013) Patrizia Noel Aziz Hanna, editor, Germania Semitica (Trends in Linguistics: Studies and Monographs, No. 259)‎[1], Walter de Gruyter, Ne'er-a-Face: A Note on the Etymology of Penny, with an Appendix on the Etymology of Pane, page 467 ff