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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.
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Proto-Germanic
Etymology
From Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“with, near, by, along”). Cognate with Latin co-, con-, prefix forms of cum (“with”). The irregular change from expected **ha- to *ga- is probably due to the unstressed nature of this prefix.[1]
Prefix
*ga-
- Indicates association or togetherness; co-.
- Indicates completeness or wholeness. In verbs, also indicates perfectivity (a finished action).
Derived terms
Proto-Germanic terms prefixed with *ga-
Descendants
In Old Norse, *ga- only survives as a fossil in a few words. Its semantic function was, however, retained perfectly by the particle of.
- Proto-West Germanic: *ga-
- Old English: ġe-, i- — Late West Saxon, ġæ-, ġi- — Northumbrian, ie- — Kentish, ᚷᛁ- (ġi-), ᚸᛖ- (ge-)
- Old Frisian: ge-, gi-, je-, ie-, e-, i-, a-
- Saterland Frisian: ge-
- West Frisian: ge-
- Old Saxon: gi-, i-, ge-, ga-
- Old Dutch: gi-, ge-
- Middle Dutch: ghe-, ge-, (West-Flanders) i-, y-
- Old High German: gi-, ga-, ki-, ka-
- Middle High German: ge-
- Alemannic German: g- or ge- (euphonic)
- Bavarian: g-
- German: ge-, g-
- Luxembourgish: ge-
- Vilamovian: gy-
- Yiddish: גע־ (ge-)
- Old Norse: g- (non-productive)
- Gothic: 𐌲𐌰- (ga-)
- Vandalic: *ga-
References
- ^ Quinlin, Daniel P. (July 1991) “The accentuation and development of PGmc. */ga-/”, in American Journal of Germanic Linguistics and Literatures[1], volume 3, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 145–159