Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/-iwiz

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

Etymology

Inherited from Proto-Indo-European *-ewes, from *-us (u-stem suffix) +‎ *-es (nominative plural suffix).

Suffix

*-iwiz

Forms the nominative/vocative plurals of masculine and feminine u-stem nouns.
‎*sunuz (“son”) + ‎*-iwiz → ‎*suniwiz (“sons”)

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *-iwi
- >? Old Saxon: -i (possibly from the i-stems)
  - Middle Low German: -e
- >? Old Dutch: -i (possibly from the i-stems)
  - Middle Dutch: -e
- >? Old High German: -i, -e (possibly from the i-stems)
  - Middle High German: -e
    - German: -e
Old Norse: -ir
- Icelandic: -ir
- Faroese: -ir
- Middle Norwegian: -ir, -er
  - Norwegian Nynorsk: -er
- Elfdalian: -ir
- Old Swedish: -ir, -er
  - Swedish: -er
- Danish: -er
  - Norwegian Bokmål: -er
Gothic: -𐌾𐌿𐍃 (-jus)

References

Fulk, R[obert] D. (September 2018), “Nouns”, in A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages (Studies in Germanic Linguistics; 3)‎^[1], Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →DOI, →ISBN, →LCCN, § 7.24, page 164.