Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/kangura-
Proto-Germanic
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Uncertain; possibly related to English kink (“curl, turn, twist”), Icelandic kengur (“hook”), and if the word is of Indo-European origin, it may be further related to Old Church Slavonic гѫжвица (gǫžvica, “wicker”) and Czech houžev (“withy”), all from Proto-Indo-European *gengʰ- (“twist, turn, plait, weave”)[1]. Finnish kankuri (“weaver”) is probably borrowed from Germanic[2] together with Finnish kangas (“web”); alternatively, the present word could be borrowed from Finnish[3].
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]*kangura- ?[2]
Reconstruction notes
[edit]According to Íslensk orðsifjabók, the word's original meaning may have been "net, plait, something woven", hence the sense of Old Norse kǫngurváfa (“spider”) would be “web-weaveress”; but Finnish kankuri, clearly the same etymon, means “weaver”, which is close to the sense of German Kanker (“spider < he who weaves”). However, Kanker is also attested as Ganker and a relation to Proto-Germanic *gangjaną (“go”) is also possible[1], in which case Kanker would be unrelated to the English and North Germanic descendants listed below; that is, if Kanker was not remade in a way similar to that of the first element of Old English gangewifre and gangelwæfre, which are usually seen as being of the same origin as kǫngurváfa[1][2]
Inflection
[edit]masculine a-stemDeclension of *kanguraz (masculine a-stem) | |||
---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
nominative | *kanguraz | *kangurōz, *kangurōs | |
vocative | *kangur | *kangurōz, *kangurōs | |
accusative | *kangurą | *kanguranz | |
genitive | *kanguras, *kanguris | *kangurǫ̂ | |
dative | *kangurai | *kanguramaz | |
instrumental | *kangurō | *kanguramiz |
or
neuter a-stemDeclension of *kangurą (neuter a-stem) | |||
---|---|---|---|
singular | plural | ||
nominative | *kangurą | *kangurō | |
vocative | *kangurą | *kangurō | |
accusative | *kangurą | *kangurō | |
genitive | *kanguras, *kanguris | *kangurǫ̂ | |
dative | *kangurai | *kanguramaz | |
instrumental | *kangurō | *kanguramiz |
Descendants
[edit]- Old English: *gangel, *gange
- ⇒ Old English: gangelwæfre f (“spider”)
- ⇒ Old English: gangewifre f (“spider”)
- >? Middle High German: kanker m (“spider”)
- German: Kanker (“harvestman”)
- Old Norse: *kǫngur-
References
[edit]- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 “Kanker” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 “köngurváfa” in: Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon — Íslensk orðsifjabók, (1989). Reykjavík, Orðabók Háskólans. (Available on Málið.is under the “Eldra mál” tab.)
- ^ kangro in Johan Ernst Rietz, Svenskt dialektlexikon (1862–1867)