Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary

noun neuter ja-stem egg From Proto-Indo-European *h₂ōwyóm, generally analyzed as a vṛddhi derivative of the word for ‘bird’. Zair 2011 derives it specifically from the strong stem of an acrostatic i-stem *h₂ówi- ~ *h₂éwi-, whereas other reconstructions treat the base as a proterokinetic i-stem *h₂éwi- ~ *h₂w-éy-. The derivative may originally have meant ‘belonging to a bird; a bird’s’, perhaps modifying an otherwise lost noun for ‘egg’, before becoming substantivized; the derivation has nevertheless been questioned because vṛddhi formations more commonly appear to be based on weak stems Schindler 1969 Zair 2011. The Germanic form developed approximately as follows: loss of initial laryngeal, monophthongization of ōw > ō (Mahlow’s law), shortening of the pretonic long vowel (Dybo’s law), and the development of a geminate glide sequence, *-jj- (Holtzmann’s law): *h₂ōwyóm > pre-Germanic **ōwyóm > Early Germanic **oijon > Proto-Germanic *ajją. The precise relative chronology of these changes remains debated, but the geminate is inherited from this specifically Germanic development Bichlmeier & Opfermann 2011: 203 Kroonen 2013: 17 Zair 2011. Cognate with Albanian ve, vo, Classical Armenian ձու, Ancient Greek ᾠόν, Welsh wy, Younger Avestan 𐬀𐬇𐬨, and Latin ōvum Zair 2011.