Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/āmaitijā

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Etymology

Uncertain, possibly from:

*ā- (“off, away”), unstressed *uʀ-, + *maitan (“to cut off”) +‎ *-jā (agent suffix);^[1]^[2]^[3]
*āmā (“larva”) +‎ *maitan (“to cut off”) +‎ *-jā (agent suffix);^[4]
or borrowed from a substrate language, compare Ancient Greek μίδᾱς (mídās, “a destructive insect in grains”), from hypothetical proto form *a-m-īd-.^[4]

Noun

*āmaitijā f^[2]

ant

Inflection

ōn-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*āmaitijā
Genitive	*āmaitijōn
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*āmaitijā	*āmaitijōn
Accusative	*āmaitijōn	*āmaitijōn
Genitive	*āmaitijōn	*āmaitijōnō
Dative	*āmaitijōn	āmaitijōm, āmaitijum
Instrumental	*āmaitijōn	āmaitijōm, āmaitijum

Synonyms

*miurijā

Descendants

Old English: ǣmete, ǣmette, ǣmytte
- Middle English: ampte, amte, emete, amete, emotte, emot, ante, empt, empte, amote
  - English: ant, emmet
  - Scots: emmot, emott, imat
  - ⇒ Yola: emothee
Old Frisian:
- North Frisian: ämel
- West Frisian: eameler, eamel, eamelder
Old Saxon: *āmētia
- Middle Low German: êmete, emete, âmete, amete, âmente, êmte, empte, êmeke, emeke
  - German Low German:
    Altmärkisch: Emk, Êmk
    Westphalian:
    Dortmundisch: Hampelte, Ampelte
    Sauerländisch: Amperte
Old Dutch: *āmēta
- Middle Dutch: âmete, emte
  - Dutch: emt, empt (eastern dialects)
Old High German: āmeiȥa
- Middle High German: āmeiȥe
  - Alemannic German: Ameisse
  - Bavarian: Åmeisn, Omeis, Omoas
  - Cimbrian: amasa
  - German: Ameise, Emse (obsolete)
    - → Luxembourgish: Ameis
  - Hunsrik: Omeis
  - Luxembourgish: Omes (chiefly in Seechomes)
  - Central Franconian:
    Ripuarian: Secksoemel
  - → Limburgish: aomezeik

References

^ Seebold, Elmar (1970) “MAIT-A- ‘abschneiden’”, in Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben (Janua Linguarum. Series practica; 85) (in German), Paris, Den Haag: Mouton, →ISBN, page 343: “mait-jōn (f) W: ae. æ-mette ‘Ameise’ W; ahd. a-meiza ‘Ameise’”
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Ameise”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 24: “wg. *ǣ-maitjōn”
^ Vladimir Orel (2003) “*maitanan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 256
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*amaitjo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 24

[1] Seebold, Elmar (1970) “MAIT-A- ‘abschneiden’”, in Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben (Janua Linguarum. Series practica; 85) (in German), Paris, Den Haag: Mouton, →ISBN, page 343: “mait-jōn (f) W: ae. æ-mette ‘Ameise’ W; ahd. a-meiza ‘Ameise’”

[EWddS-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Ameise”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 24: “wg. *ǣ-maitjōn”

[3] Vladimir Orel (2003) “*maitanan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 256

[EDPG-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*amaitjo-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 24

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