*aldijǫ̂ barnō
Runic: ᚨᛚᛞᛁᛃᛟ ᛒᚨᚱᚾᛟ Pronunciation: /ˌɑl.di.jɔ̃ːː ˈbɑr.nɔː/noun phrase
Meanings
“children of men”; mankind; humankind; a poetic collective expression for human beings generally
Etymology
From *aldijǫ̂ (genitive plural of *aldiz) + *barnō (nominative plural of *barną), literally “children of men”. The expression is continued by Old English elda bearn/ylda bearn, Old Saxon eldibarn, and Old Norse alda bǫrn, and is therefore securely reconstructible at least for Proto-Northwest Germanic; its occurrence in both North and West Germanic poetic diction makes inheritance from a common formula more economical than later interdialectal diffusion, although its existence in Proto-Germanic cannot be demonstrated (Cathey 2002: 65; Klaeber 2008: 11–12, xxiii; Neckel 1914: Vǫluspá 20).
Descendants
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*aldijō barnu (Proto-West Germanic)
- ielda bearn, yldo bearn (Old English)
- eldibarn (Old Saxon)
- alda bǫrn (Old Norse)