Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-as

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

Alternative reconstuction

*-is

Etymology

Based on the voiceless *s, Ringe argues that this ending was analogically taken from the genitive singular determiner *þas, from *tósyo.^[1]

Suffix

*-as

masculine/neutral genitive singular a-stem noun ending
‎*hundaz (“dog”) + ‎*-as → ‎*hundas (“dog's”)
masculine/neutral genitive singular strong a-stem adjective ending
used in formation of adverbs

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *-as
- Old English: -es, -æs — early
  - Middle English: -es, -s (mostly Late Middle English), -is, -ys (Northern, Early Scots), -us (West Midland)
    - English: -'s
    - Middle Scots: -is, -s
      - Scots: -'s
  - ⇒ Middle English: -es, -s
    - English: -s, -st, -ce (as in once, since)
    - Middle Scots: -is, -s
      - Scots: -s, -st, -ce (as in ance/yince)
- Old Frisian: -es, -s
  - West Frisian: -s, -'s, -e
- Old Saxon: -es
  - Middle Low German: -es, -s
    - Low German: -s, -es
      - Plautdietsch: -s
- Old Dutch: -es, -is
  - Middle Dutch: -s, -es
    - Dutch: -s, -es
      - Afrikaans: -s
- Old High German: -es
  - Middle High German: -es, -s
    - German: -s, -es, -s-, -'s
    - Luxembourgish: -s
    - Yiddish: ־ס (-s)
Proto-Norse: *-ᚨᛊ (*-as)
- Old Norse: -s
  - Icelandic: -s
  - Faroese: -s
  - Norn: -s
  - Norwegian: -s
  - Jamtish: -s
  - Elfdalian: -es
  - Old Swedish: -s, -x
    - Swedish: -s, -x
  - Old Danish: -s
    - Danish: -s
Gothic: -𐌹𐍃 (-is)

References

^ Ringe, Donald (2006), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎^[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 201

[1] Ringe, Donald (2006), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic (A Linguistic History of English; 1)‎^[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 201

[1]