*anǭ

Continues the widespread Indo-European word for ‘grandmother’, best represented cautiously as a stem *h₂an(h)-; Serangeli (2020: 208) more specifically reconstructs thematic h₂énH-o-, interpreting the geminate of Hittite 𒄩𒀭𒈾 (ha-an-na- /ḫanna-/) as evidence for root-final *H, while Olsen (2020: 81–82) notes that the gemination may instead be hypocoristic and that even initial *h₂ is not completely secure. The Proto-Germanic noun was remodeled into the productive feminine ōn-declension, a class arising through the Germanic amalgamation of inherited feminine *eh₂-stems with *ōn-stems (Kroonen 2011a: 36–37). Cognates include Ancient Greek ἀννίς (annís), Armenian հան (han), Hittite 𒄩𒀭𒈾 (ha-an-na- /ḫanna-/), and Latin anus; Lycian xñnahe/i- continues the same kinship stem, while Lithuanian anýta is a derivative of it (Blažek 2026: §1.3; Olsen 2020: 81–82; Serangeli 2020: 208). Old Prussian ane is traditionally included as a cognate, although its value as independent Baltic evidence is weakened by the alternative view that it was borrowed from Germanic (Blažek 2026: §1.3). The feminine noun is probably the historically older member of the Germanic pair: only Germanic securely attests a corresponding masculine *anô, which is thus best regarded as a secondary masculine formation beside the inherited female kinship term.