Reconstruction talk:Proto-West Germanic/himil

Etymology

Isn't this just from Proto-Germanic *himinaz by dissimilation? — This unsigned comment was added by Mahagaja (talk • contribs) at 16:43, 14 June 2021.

Well, that just sounds like slavery with extra steps. --{{victar|talk}} 03:35, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

Huh? —Mahāgaja · talk 09:16, 15 June 2021 (UTC)

I don't think it's dissimilation, but instead are both derivatives of a common r/n-stem. --{{victar|talk}} 00:29, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

It would have to be an l/n-stem, right? I think there are one or two of those (e.g. the "sun" word), but they're quite rare. Anyway, dissimilation seems like the right answer for *hebun as well: in one case the m of himinaz dissimilates to b, and in the other case, the n of himinaz dissimilates to l. —Mahāgaja · talk 06:57, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

@Mahagaja: Why is rare a reason for it not existing? I'm not sold on any dissimilation theory, but add some sources for alternate theories to the etymology. I'm sure there are dozens of papers on it. --{{victar|talk}} 07:16, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

I didn't say it didn't/couldn't exist, I just said it was rare. Dissimilation seems way more likely to me than that a word apparently deriving from the n-stem *h₂éḱmō, which has no trace of r/n- or l/n-inflection, would be an l/n-stem but not show any trace of that until as late as Proto-West Germanic. —Mahāgaja · talk 09:33, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

@Mahagaja: Just doing a precursory search, both theories have been suggested, so just add them both to the etymology. Like with *sóh₂wl̥, the Germanic forms are all derivatives; r/n-stems mostly only survive in Indo-Iranian and Greek. Also, mind you, not everyone supports a *h₂éḱmō ancestry. --{{victar|talk}} 17:57, 16 June 2021 (UTC)

I added a bunch of sources to get you started. --{{victar|talk}} 18:18, 16 June 2021 (UTC)