*ahaz

Runic: ᚨᚺᚨᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈɑ.xɑz/

noun · neuter · z-stem

Meanings

ear, spike, or head of grain

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-European *h₂éḱ-os ~ *h₂éḱ-es-os, a neuter s-stem built from *h₂eḱ-. In Proto-Germanic this was preserved as a neuter z-stem *ahaz ~ *ahiz-, later partly remodeled, possibly as *ahsą (Kroonen et al. 2022: 7; Ringe 2017: 310). Cognate with Latin acus < Proto-Italic *akos-, Tocharian A āk, and Tocharian B āke, which likely preserve the more primary sense ‘tip, point’. A possible Greek comparandum is Ancient Greek ἀκοστή (akostḗ), though some Greek ‘chaff’ terms in this semantic field are less secure (Wodtko et al. 2008: 289). The agricultural sense ‘ear/awn/husk of grain’ is probably secondary after the Tocharian split, rather than directly reconstructible as the original PIE meaning (de Vaan 2008: 24; Kroonen et al. 2022: 7). Compare also the related n-derivative *ahanō and Latin agna, from *h₂eḱ-on-eh₂-, where the same semantic development from ‘sharp object’ to ‘awn/chaff/ear’ is visible (Kroonen et al. 2022: 13), though de Vaan (2008: 23–24) also notes that Latin agna may alternatively be a Mediterranean loan.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.ahazahizō
Acc.ahazahizō
Gen.ahizizahizǫ̂
Dat.ahiziahizumaz
Inst.ahizēahizumiz
Voc.ahazahizō

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Descendants

  • *ahaʀ, *ahiʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *ār (Old Dutch)
      • aer (Middle Dutch)
        • aar (Dutch)
          • aar (Afrikaans)
  • *ahaʀ, *ahiʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ēar, æhher (Old English)
      • eere, ear, ere, er, ȝer, eyre (Middle English)
        • ear (English)
        • aicher, icker, aiker, æhher (Scots)
  • *ahaʀ, *ahiʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *ēr (Old Frisian)
      • Iere (Saterland Frisian)
      • ier (West Frisian)
  • *ahaʀ, *ahiʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ahir, ahar, ehir (Old High German)
      • eher, äher (Middle High German)
        • Äli (Alemannic German)
        • Ähre (German)
  • *ahaʀ, *ahiʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ahir, ahar, ehir (Old High German)
      • eher, äher (Middle High German)
        • Ohr, Öhr, Ähr, Ähjer, Iehr (Central Franconian)
          • Éi (Luxembourgish)
  • *ahaʀ, *ahiʀ (Proto-West Germanic)
    • ahar, ahir, ehir (Old Saxon)
      • ār (Middle Low German)
        • Ahr (Low German)
        • Oa (Plautdietsch)

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