Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/fehu

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

From early *péku, from Proto-Indo-European *péḱu (“livestock”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɸe.xu/

Noun

*fehu n

1. livestock, cattle
2. property, wealth
3. (Runic alphabet) name of the rune ᚠ (f)

Inflection

neuter u-stemDeclension of *fehu (neuter u-stem)
	singular
nominative	*fehu
vocative	*fehu
accusative	*fehu
genitive	*fehauz
dative	*fehiwi
instrumental	*fehū

Derived terms

• *fehufrekaz
• *fehufangą
• *fehugernaz
• *fehuhūsą

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *fehu
  • Old English: feoh, fioh, feh
    • Middle English: feh, fe, fee (with Old French)
      • English: fee
      • Scots: fe, fee, fiel
  • Old Frisian: fia
    • Saterland Frisian: Fäi
    • West Frisian: fee
  • Old Saxon: fehu, feho, feu
    • Middle Low German: vehe, veh, vê, vie
      • German Low German: Veeh, Veh, Veih n (Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch)
        • Plautdietsch: Fee
  • Old Dutch: fē, fio, fiu
    • Middle Dutch: vêe
      • Dutch: vee
        • Afrikaans: vee
        • Negerhollands: vee
      • Limburgish: vieë, vieëch
  • Old High German: fihu
    • Middle High German: vihe, vëhe, vich, viech, vech, vie, vē
      • Alemannic German: Vëh

        Swabian: Viech

      • Bavarian: Viech

        Cimbrian: viighe, biighe (Mezzaselva)

      • East Central German:

        Upper Saxon German: Viech

      • German: Vieh; Viech (with distinction)
      • Luxembourgish: Véi
      • Rhine Franconian:

        Hessian: Veh, Veih, Vieh

        Palatine: Veh, Vieh, Viech

      • Yiddish: פֿיך (fikh)
  • → Vulgar Latin: *feus
    • Old French: fieu (dated 11th-century) (see there for further descendants)
    • Old Occitan: feu
      • Catalan: feu
      • Occitan: fèu
    • Medieval Latin: fevum (dated 899, La Garde-Freinet, France)
      • Old French: fief m (dated 13th-century)
        • Middle French: fief
          • French: fief
            • → Romanian: fief
          • → English: fief
      • Old French: feffe, feoffe f
        • Middle French: fieffe
        • → Middle English: feffe, feoffe
          • English: feoff
      • ⇒ Medieval Latin: feudum, feodum (see there for further descendants)
• Proto-Norse: *ᚠᛖᚺᚢ (*fehu /⁠fehu, fēhu⁠/), *ᚠᛖᚺ (*feh /⁠fēh⁠/)
  • Old Norse: fé
    • Icelandic: fé
    • Faroese: fæ
    • Norwegian Nynorsk: fe; (dialectal) fi
    • Norwegian Bokmål: fe
    • Old Swedish: fǣ
      • Swedish: fä
    • Danish: fæ
• Gothic: 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐌿 (faihu), 𐍆𐌰𐌹𐌷𐍉 (faihō)