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Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/wintruz

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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

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Etymology

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    Unknown. Several possibilities have been proposed, although none are particularly convincing:

    The first theory involves an analysis of Latin unda continuing *u-n-deh₂ rather than *ud-neh₂, while there is little semantic evidence for the second theory.[1]

    Pronunciation

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    Noun

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    *wintruz m

    1. winter
      Synonym: *gōį̄
    2. year (as a measure of time)

    Inflection

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    Most descendants (in particular Gothic) show a u-stem paradigm:

    u-stemDeclension of *wintruz (u-stem)
    singular plural
    nominative *wintruz *wintriwiz
    vocative *wintru *wintriwiz
    accusative *wintrų *wintrunz
    genitive *wintrauz *wintriwǫ̂
    dative *wintriwi *wintrumaz
    instrumental *wintrū *wintrumiz

    However, Old Norse shows a consonant stem paradigm:

    consonant stemDeclension of *wintruz (consonant stem)
    singular plural
    nominative *wintruz *wintriz
    vocative *wintru *wintriz
    accusative *wintrų *wintrunz
    genitive *wintriz *wintrǫ̂
    dative *wintri *wintrumaz
    instrumental *wintrē *wintrumiz

    If that is indeed the original paradigm, it may have arisen as follows: The nominative and vocative singular would have come from older *wintr̥-s and *wintr̥, respectively, into which an epenthetic u had been inserted before a syllabic sonorant, as is usual in Germanic. This formed *winturz and *wintur. The -ur- was then later metathesized into a form resembling a u-stem nominative (likely based on the accusative forms).

    Derived terms

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    Descendants

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    In most of the daughter languages this word was mostly replaced by *jērą in the sense of a year as a unit of time.

    See also

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    Seasons in Proto-Germanic · *jērastīdīz (layout · text) · category
    *wazrą (spring) *sumaraz (summer) *harbistaz (autumn) *wintruz (winter)

    References

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    1. ^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*wintru-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 588