Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary — *abôScott K. ShayWardja Presshttps://protogermanic.org/pgmc_abô
Single-entry extract from the dictionary. Cross-references to other entries point to their identifiers in the full dictionary.
The historical derivation of Gothic aba and its n-stem anomaliesSverre S.JohnsenHistorische Sprachforschung118251–2622005bEtymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 5)AlwinKloekhorstBrill2008Untersuchungen zur nominalen Stammbildung des HethitischenElisabethRiekenWiesbadenHarrassowitz1999The American heritage dictionary of Indo-European rootsCalvertWatkinsBostonHoughton Mifflin Harcourt2011𒄩𒀊𒁉𒈾rich*h₃ep-to work, toil, make; ability, force*h₃óp-r̥ ~ *h₃ép-n-wealth, possession, resourcesopulentuswealthy, richअप्नस्property, possession𐌰𐌱𐌰male person; husband
nounmasculinean-stemhusband; male spouse, especially as the male head of a householdProbably from pre-Germanic *h₃ép-on- ~ *h₃ep-n-, an animate n-stem internal derivative of the Proto-Indo-European heteroclitic *h₃óp-r̥ ~ *h₃ép-n-Johnsen 2005b: 258–60Rieken 1999: 315–18. The key evidence is Gothic 𐌰𐌱𐌰, whose rare genitive plural 𐌰𐌱𐌽𐌴 (abnē) and dative plural 𐌰𐌱𐌽𐌰𐌼 (abnam) preserve the zero-grade *-n- of the inherited n-stem. Semantically, ‘possessor of wealth/property’ > ‘male head of household’ > ‘husband’ is straightforward Johnsen 2005b: 251–60. Indo-European comparanda include Vedic Sanskrit अप्नस्, Hittite 𒄩𒀊𒁉𒈾, and Latin opulentus, all belonging to the same PIE *h₃ep-/*h₃op- complex Kloekhorst 2008: 295–97Watkins 2011: s.v. op-. A purely inner-Germanic derivation from a lost Strong class 6 verb **afaną (‘to do, make, perform’) remains possible, but it requires a longer semantic path: ‘worker/performer’ > ‘farmer/householder’ > ‘husband’.