Reconstruction:Proto-Italic/domanā

This Proto-Italic 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-Italic

Etymology

Feminine counterpart to *domanos, a derivative of Proto-Indo-European *dṓm (“home, house”), from *dem- (“to build”). The exact formation of this word is unclear; see Reconstruction notes.

Noun

*domanā f (masculine *domanos)

1. mistress

Declension

Declension of *domanā (ā-stem)

	singular	plural
nominative	*domanā	*domanās
vocative	*domana	*domanās
accusative	*domanam	*domanans
genitive	*domanās	*domanāzom
dative	*domanāi	*domanais
ablative	*domanād	*domanais
locative	*domanāi	*domanais

Reconstruction notes

The identity of the second vowel of this word and its masculine counterpart *domanos, other than the fact it was a short vowel, cannot be recovered with certainty.

• The -i- in Latin domina and dominus can come from any short vowel via regular vowel reduction processes.
• Oscan -a- was inserted to break up a syncope-generated consonant cluster and implies nothing about the value of the syncopated vowel.

Attested reconstructions of the stem of the words for "master" and "mistress" include *doman-, *domen-, *domon-, and *domun-.

• Pinault's *doman- would be derived from a thematization of *dṓm (“house”) + *-Hō (possessive suffix), i.e. "one who owns a house".
• Pronk prefers *domen-, a simple thematization of an n-stem.
• De Vaan leaves alternatives *domon- and *domun-, each corresponding to a potential directly ancestral declension of Latin domus (“house”), as open possibilities. The suffix in this case would be *-nos (adjective suffix), with an overall meaning "(s)he of the house".

Descendants

• Latin: domina (see there for further descendants)
• Oscan: διομανας (diomanas, gen. sg.) (initial di- to alliterate with a derivative of *djous)