Reconstruction talk:Proto-Germanic/nīwalaz
Latest comment: 9 years ago by Anglom in topic Suffix
Suffix
[edit]I wasn't quite sure about the suffix, as I assume with an -a- suffix this would have given *nīhwalaz. Anglom (talk) 14:24, 15 November 2014 (UTC)
- It's also possible to reconstruct *nīwalaz, presuming Verner alternation to -gw- > -w-. Anglom (talk) 19:24, 22 November 2014 (UTC)
- The Sanskrit word actually points to a nominal construction, rather than the verbal form which I assumed. It's likely then that the form could have been *nīhwalaz anyway. I'm not really sure what form the Middle Dutch and Middle Low German adverbs point to however. Anglom (talk) 02:33, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
- This word is reconstructed as *nīhwelaz in Frank Heidermanns' Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, which is as likely I guess. Anglom (talk) 21:15, 30 April 2015 (UTC)
- The Sanskrit word actually points to a nominal construction, rather than the verbal form which I assumed. It's likely then that the form could have been *nīhwalaz anyway. I'm not really sure what form the Middle Dutch and Middle Low German adverbs point to however. Anglom (talk) 02:33, 3 February 2015 (UTC)
Speculation
[edit]Also, a bit of speculation and it's further a bit of a stretch, but I wonder if this word could also have given rise to the theonym Nehalennia, possibly from *Nīhwalanjō/*Nīhwalinjō, "she of the deep", in a role as a trade/maritime goddess. Although the first vowels don't line up well, and this is assuming the name was even Germanic in the first place. Anglom (talk) 02:42, 3 February 2015 (UTC)