Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/swalwǭ
Proto-Germanic
Etymology
Uncertain. Possibly related to Russian солове́й (solovéj, “nightingale”). Possibly related to Ancient Greek ἀλκυών (alkuṓn, “kingfisher”), in which case the corresponding PGmc reconstruction would be *swalhwǭ.
Kroonen compares *sūliz (“column, pillar”) and *sūljaną (“to insert a wedge-shaped piece into an incision”), explaining that the gannet and swallow were named for their wedge-shaped tails. In this case, the original form *swoHl-weh₂- would have developed into *swalwǭ by Dybo's law.[1]
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈswɑl.wɔ̃ː/
Noun
*swalwǭ f
- swallow (bird)
Inflection
| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | *swalwǭ | *swalwōniz |
| vocative | *swalwǭ | *swalwōniz |
| accusative | *swalwōnų | *swalwōnunz |
| genitive | *swalwōniz | *swalwōnǫ̂ |
| dative | *swalwōni | *swalwōmaz |
| instrumental | *swalwōnē | *swalwōmiz |
Descendants
- Proto-West Germanic: *swalwā
- Old English: swealwe, swealewe
- Old Frisian: swale
- Old Saxon: swala
- Middle Low German: swale
- Dutch Low Saxon: swaalfe
- German Low German: Schwaale
- Middle Low German: swale
- Old Dutch: *swalwa, *swalawa
- Old High German: swalawa
- Middle High German: swalwe
- Old Norse: svala
- → Proto-Samic: *svālfō
- Northern Sami: spálfu
References
- ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013) “swalwon”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 495