*mōder

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *mōder for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr (“mother”),^[2][3] which Kroonen cites as *mōder-, Orel as *mōđēr and Köbler as *mōder, *mōdar.^[3][4][5] Kroonen holds that the accent had already moved to the suffix in Proto-Germanic, since all the languages point to *mōder- and not *mōþer-.^[3] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the Proto-West Germanic endings of the kinship terms in -r as nominative singular *-er, accusative singular *-ar and genitive singular *-urz.^[6]

Morphology

A feminine r-stem.^[7][8] The nominative and accusative endings should both have given an Old English ending in e before r, as in early Mercian stēopmōder; but in words with a back vowel in the first syllable the vowel of the suffix was generally replaced by u, as in early Mercian mōdur, early West Saxon mōdor and early Kentish mōdar.^[6] The Old English genitive singular with u before r continues the inherited ending, and the early Mercian dative singular mœ̄der the inherited form in *-ri.^[9] EWA takes the Old English vowel of the suffix for the zero grade *mōđur-, brought in by analogy from the genitive singular.^[10]

Evidence

The word is found in all the Germanic languages except Gothic, where another word replaced it: Old Saxon mōdar, Old Dutch muoder, Old Frisian mōder and Old English mōdor correspond to Old High German muoter.^[10] In Old Dutch it is recorded in the Psalms of the 9th century, with the genitive muodir,^[11] and in Williram's commentary of about 1100.^[12] Old Frisian also has a short form mōr,^[13] which Boutkan explains by a syncope of -d-, comparing Middle Dutch moer.^[14]

Meanings

1. mother^[1]

Old High German also used the word for "ancestress, origin, womb".^[10]

Derivatives

• EWA reconstructs West Germanic *mōdr-(uu̯)ii̯ōn- "mother's sister", derived from the word for "mother", behind Old High German muotera, Old Frisian mōdire and Old English mōdrige.^[15]

Reflexes

• Old English: mōdor (“mother”)^[16]
• Old Frisian: mōder (“mother”)^[13]
• Old Saxon: mōdar (“mother”)^[8]
• Old Dutch: muoder (“mother”)^[12]
• Old High German: muoter (“mother, ancestress, womb”)^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mōder
2. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 515
3. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 371
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 273
5. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *mōder
6. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 381–382
7. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōdar
8. ^ a b Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. mōdar
9. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 382
10. ^ a b c d 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
11. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altniederfränkisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. muoder
12. ^ a b Oudnederlands Woordenboek (2009–), Instituut voor de Nederlandse Taal, Leiden; gtb.ivdnt.org, p. s.v. muoder
13. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. mōder
14. ^ Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. moder
15. ^ 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. muotera
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mōdor, mōder