*mōdēr

Reconstruction

The word is *mōdēr in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *mōđēr in Orel,^[3] the stem *mōder- in Kroonen and Bammesberger,^[4][5] and *mōder or *mōdar in Köbler.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (“mother”), the IE word for "mother",^[4][2] through its suffix-stressed variant *meh₂tḗr.^[2]

Morphology

A feminine r-stem.^[4][6] In Proto-Germanic the r-stems had been reduced to five kinship terms inflected alike: the masculines *fadēr and *brōþēr, and the feminines *mōdēr, *swestēr and *duhtēr.^[7]

The d is due to Verner's law: Ringe derives the word from PIE *mah₂tḗr through *māþḗr.^[1] Kroonen notes that the dialects agree on *mōder-, not *mōþer-, so the accent must have moved to the suffix already in Proto-Germanic; this shift, paralleled in Sanskrit, is almost certainly analogical to the word for "father", *fader- from *ph₂-tér-.^[4] Ringe adds that the t of *swestēr may be due to analogy with *duhtēr and with *mōdēr, if that analogy came before Grimm's law.^[8] EWA takes Old English mōdor from a zero-grade form *mōđur-.^[9]

Evidence

The word is attested in North and West Germanic: Old Norse móðir, Old English mōdor, Old Frisian mōder, Old Saxon mōdar and Old High German muoter.^[4] Gothic has no counterpart and uses Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹 (aiþei) for "mother".^[10][11] Outside Germanic, Orel compares Tocharian A mācar, Ancient Greek μήτηρ (mḗtēr), Latin māter, Old Irish máthir, Lithuanian mótė and Proto-Slavic *mati.^[3]

Meanings

1. mother^[4][3][2]

Old High German also used the word for "ancestress", "origin", "lap" and "womb".^[9] EWA notes that the continuants of *mōđer- partly mean "womb", so that Dutch baarmoeder (“womb”) may belong either here or with *mōþra-.^[12]

Derivatives

• *mōþra- "womb, belly, bodice", which Kroonen calls an instrumental noun to the same root, matching Ancient Greek μήτρα (mḗtra, “womb”);^[13] Orel's *mōþran.^[14]
• *mōdērlausaz "motherless" and *samamōdrijaz "of the same mother", the latter identical with Ancient Greek ὁμομήτριος (homomḗtrios).^[15][16]
• In Orel, *mōđernjan "mother's side of lineage", structurally close to Latin māternus, and the compounds *steupa-mōđēr "stepmother" and *fōstra-mōđēr "foster mother".^[3][17][18]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: móðir (“mother”)^[19]
• Old English: mōdor (“mother”)^[20]
• Old Frisian: mōder (“mother”)^[21]
• Old Saxon: mōdar (“mother”)^[22]
• Old High German: muoter (“mother, ancestress, womb”)^[9]

There is no Gothic form.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 123
2. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōdēr
3. ^ a b c d Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 273
4. ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 371
5. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 207
6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōder
7. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 308
8. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 167
9. ^ a b c Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. muoter
10. ^ a b Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 208
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. aiþei
12. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. muodar
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 372
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 274
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōdērlausaz
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *samamōdrijaz
17. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 376
18. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 110
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. mōðir
20. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōdor
21. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōder
22. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. MŌDAR