Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kaiju

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Alternative forms

*kaij m

Etymology

Unknown; possibly related to Middle Dutch kegghe (“wedge”), and perhaps further to Old Norse *kagi (“shrub, young tree”), possibly cognate with Lithuanian žagari̇̃ pl (“scrub, brushwood”), Lithuanian žãgaras (“withered branch”), suggestively from Proto-Indo-European *ǵegʰ-.^[1] See Proto-Germanic *kagô (“bush, stump”) for more.^[2]

Bammesberger instead connects this word to *kīmō, *kīnan, and *kīþ, ultimately deriving them all from a root *kī- (i.e. Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyH-); him and Liberman reject the reconstruction of this word with *ā (by e.g. Kroonen) as that would both result in palatalisation of the initial vowel in Old English and yield /eː/ in Anglian Old English.^[3]^[4]

Noun

*kaiju f^[3]^[5]^[2]

(Anglo-Frisian) key
Synonym: *slutil

Inflection

ō-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*kaiju
Genitive	*kaijā
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*kaiju	*kaijō
Accusative	*kaijā	*kaijā
Genitive	*kaijā	*kaijō
Dative	*kaijē	kaijōm, kaijum
Instrumental	*kaiju	kaijōm, kaijum

Alternative reconstructions

*kāgiju f, *kāg m^[2]
*kaigiju^[4]
*kaigī^[6]

Derived terms

*kaijōn

Descendants

Old English: cǣġ f
- Middle English: keye, kaye, keiȝe
  - English: key
  - Scots: key, kay
- ⇒ Old English: cǣġe
Old Frisian: kēi, kāi m
- North Frisian: kay
- Saterland Frisian: Koai
- West Frisian: kaai

References

^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), “g̑egh-, g̑ogh-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 354
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*kēgjō-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 284
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Bammesberger, Alfred (January 2004), “Old English cǣg 'key' and Frisian kei/kai”, in North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE), volume 44, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 91-100
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Liberman, Anatoly (2008), “Key”, in An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 126-127.
^ Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page northern WGmc *kaij- ‘key’
^ Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 32: “*kaigi-/*kajjo-”

[1] Pokorny, Julius (1959), “g̑egh-, g̑ogh-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 354

[EDPG-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*kēgjō-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 284

[Bammesberger-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Bammesberger, Alfred (January 2004), “Old English cǣg 'key' and Frisian kei/kai”, in North-Western European Language Evolution (NOWELE), volume 44, →DOI, →ISSN, →OCLC, pages 91-100

[Liberman-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Liberman, Anatoly (2008), “Key”, in An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, →ISBN, →OCLC, pages 126-127.

[DOE-5] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page northern WGmc *kaij- ‘key’

[Bremmer-6] Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009), An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 32: “*kaigi-/*kajjo-”

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