Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sēmô

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 Proto-Indo-European *séh₁mn̥ (“seed”); thus equivalent to *sēaną +‎ *-mô.^[1]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈsɛː.mɔːː/

Noun

*sēmô n

seed

Inflection

The plural forms preserve the zero-grade forms of the suffix. The dative plural form was apparently taken from the a-stems.

Declension of *sēmô (neuter an-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*sēmô	*sēmnō
vocative	*sēmô	*sēmnō
accusative	*sēmô	*sēmnō
genitive	*sēmniz	*sēmnǫ̂
dative	*sēmni	*sēmnamaz
instrumental	*sēmnē	*sēmnamiz

Synonyms

*sēdiz

Related terms

*sēaną

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *sāmō
- Old Saxon: sāmo
  - Middle Low German: sāme
- Old High German: sāmo
  - Middle High German: sāme, saume
    - Cimbrian: zamo
    - German: Samen, Same (now rare)
      - → Japanese: ザーメン (zāmen)
    - Hunsrik: Some
    - Luxembourgish: Som
    - Vilamovian: zöma
    - Yiddish: זוימען (zoymen) (< saume)
→ Finnish: hieman (through earlier *šeema)

References

^ Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*sēman-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 432

[1] Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*sēman-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 432

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