*maþō

Reconstruction

Ringe and Taylor reconstruct *maþō for Proto-West Germanic, and Wiktionary has the same form.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *maþô (“worm”), which Ringe and Taylor write *maþō̄ beside Gothic 𐌼𐌰𐌸𐌰 (maþa),^[1] Kroonen *maþan- and Orel *maþōn.^[3][4] In Old English it became *mæþā and then Old English maþa.^[1]

Morphology

A masculine n-stem.^[5][6] Kroonen takes *maþan- and *muþþa/ōn- "moth" to have split off from one ablauting paradigm, nominative *maþō, genitive *muttaz.^[3][7]

Evidence

The word is attested in Old English maþa,^[1] Old Saxon matho in glosses^[8] and Old High German mado, recorded from the 9th century in glosses and in Notker.^[6] Wiktionary gives the Old Dutch word only as a reconstruction, and no Old Frisian form.^[2] EWA finds it uncertain whether the Finnic words for "worm, snake", such as Finnish mato, are borrowed from Germanic, given the Finnish verb mataa (“to crawl”).^[6]

Competing analyses

Whether the words for "moth" belong with *maþō is disputed.^[9] Kroonen takes *muþþa/ōn- for a zero-grade formation closely related to *maþan-,^[10] while Casaretto notes that the connection of Old English moþþe is doubted because Northumbrian has forms with a velar, ⟨mohða⟩.^[9] Orel takes Proto-Germanic *muþþōn "moth" for an expressive formation based on the word for "mouse".^[11] Orel calls *maþōn of unknown origin,^[4] and Casaretto also finds its etymology unclear.^[9]

Meanings

1. worm^[1][2]

Old English, Old Saxon and Old High German also used the word for "maggot",^[5][8][12] and Old High German for the larva of the flesh-fly and other insects.^[6]

Reflexes

• Old English: maþa (“maggot, worm”)^[5]
• Old Saxon: matho (“maggot, worm”)^[8]
• Old High German: mado (“maggot, worm, larva”)^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 192
2. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *maþō
3. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 358
4. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 264
5. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. maþa
6. ^ a b c d e 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. mado
7. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2011), The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A Study in Diachronic Morphophonology, Leiden Studies in Indo-European 18, Amsterdam / New York: Rodopi, p. 218
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. matho
9. ^ a b c Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 379
11. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 278
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mado