Reconstruction:Proto-Finnic/nisu

This Proto-Finnic 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-Finnic

Etymology

From *nisä (“teat, breast”) +‎ *-u. The sense may have originally been “snack”, from which “wheat, something made of wheat”,^[1] or may have evoked a comparison between the white milk secreted from a teat and the light-colored grain.^[2]

Noun

*nisu^[3]

wheat
Synonym: *vehnä

Inflection

Inflection of *nisu

	singular	plural
Note: The Proto-Finnic declension system is yet to be reconstructed in detail. What is presented here is only one possibility.
nominative	*nisu	*nisut
accusative	*nisun	*nisut
genitive	*nisun	nisudën nisuidën
partitive	*nisuda	*nisuida
inessive	nisussa nisuhna	nisuissa nisuihna
elative	*nisusta	*nisuista
illative	*nisuhën	*nisuihën
adessive	*nisulla	*nisuilla
ablative	*nisulta	*nisuilta
allative	nisulën nisulëk	nisuilën nisuilëk
essive	*nisuna	*nisuina
translative	*nisuksi	*nisuiksi
instructive	*nisun	*nisuin
comitative	*nisunëk	*nisuinëk
abessive	*nisutta	*nisuitta

Descendants

Estonian: nisu
Finnish: nisu (dialectal, mainly Western Finnish)
Ingrian: (obsolete) nisu
Karelian:
- South Karelian: nižu
Livonian: ni’zzõz, nizu (Salaca)
Livvi: nižu
Ludian: nižu
Veps: nižu
Võro: nisu
Votic: nisu

References

^ Erkki Itkonen, Ulla-Maija Kulonen, editors (1992–2000), “nisu”, in Suomen sanojen alkuperä [The Origin of Finnish Words]‎^[1] (in Finnish) (online version; note: also includes other etymological sources; this source is labeled "SSA 1992–2000"), Helsinki: Institute for the Languages of Finland/Finnish Literature Society, →ISBN
^ Kotimaisten kielten keskus: Sanojen alkuperästä: Nisu
^ Kallio, Petri (2020–), “*nisu”, in Yhteissuomalainen sanasto [Common Finnic Vocabulary]‎^[2] (in Finnish)