*muggju

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *muggju "midge, mosquito" for Proto-West Germanic, and beside it an n-stem *muggjā "small fly, midge, mosquito".^[1][2] EWA sets up West Germanic *muggi̯ō(n)-, *-an-, with the gemination of West Germanic, from *muǥi̯ō(n)-.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *mugjō (“little fly, midge, mosquito”),^[4] which Orel writes *muʒjō.^[5] Kroonen reconstructs the Proto-Germanic word under *muwī- "mosquito": the velar of West Germanic arose from the *w of the nominative *muwī, the new root *mug- was then spread through the paradigm, and in the genitive *mugjōz it was geminated by the gemination of West Germanic.^[6] EWA gives the same outline: a paradigm with nominative *muwī and genitive *mūjōz became *muǥī, and the new stem spread to forms such as the genitive *muǥjōz, whose *-ǥj- gave the geminate *-ggj- of West Germanic.^[3]

Morphology

A feminine noun.^[7][3] In Old Saxon the word is a weak feminine,^[8][9] and in Old High German it has both strong and weak forms.^[3]

Evidence

The word is recorded in Old English myċġ, glossing Latin culex,^[7] in Old Saxon muggia, also mugga, in glosses for culex,^[8][9] and in Old High German mugga, in glosses from the end of the 8th century and in the Monsee Fragments and Tatian.^[3] In Old Low Franconian, EWA has it only as the byname ⟨Muggo⟩ of a Walterus in 1159.^[3] Upper German forms without umlaut are explained by the failure of i-umlaut before the clusters ⟨gg⟩ and ⟨ck⟩ there.^[3]

Competing analyses

Kroonen speaks of a velarization of the *w in West Germanic, distinct from the sharpening in North Germanic that gave the Old Swedish word,^[6] whereas EWA sees nothing against dating the change of *uwV to *uǥV to Proto-Germanic, and names Kroonen's article of 2011 as the view that dates it to West Germanic.^[3] Orel takes Old Norse mý (“midge, gnat”) for an isolated form, only distantly connected,^[10] and EWA for a separate formation.^[3]

Meanings

1. midge, mosquito^[1]

Old High German also used the word for "dog-fly" and "cicada".^[3]

Reflexes

• Old English: myċġ (“midge”)^[7]
• Old Saxon: muggia (“midge”)^[8]
• Old High German: mugga (“midge, mosquito, dog-fly, cicada”)^[3]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *muggju
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *muggjā
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. mugga
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mugjō
5. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 275
6. ^ a b Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 380
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. mycg
8. ^ a b c Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. muggia
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. muggia
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 278