*attô

Runic: ᚨᛏᛟ Pronunciation: /ˈɑt.tɔːː/

noun · masculine · an-stem

Meanings

  1. father, dad
  2. a male ancestor; forefather

Etymology

From an expressive nursery word Proto-Indo-European *atta-, integrated into Proto-Germanic as a masculine n-stem (Kroonen 2011a: 80; Kroonen 2013: 39). It is conventionally reconstructed as PIE *átta (Ringe 2017: 20, 89); de Vaan (2008: 60) instead posits *h₂et-o-. Compare Hittite 𒀜𒋫𒀸 (attaš /at-ta-aš/), Ancient Greek ἄττα (átta), Latin atta, and Proto-Celtic attyo- (de Vaan 2008: 60; Kloekhorst 2008: 225–26, s.v. atta-; Matasović 2009a: 46). Direct inheritance is uncertain: PIE *tt is exceptional, and comparable nursery words arise independently in unrelated languages; Scarborough (2020: 198), therefore, considers independent formations more likely. Fulk (2018: 114) alternatively regards the Germanic word as probably borrowed from Greek or Latin.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nom.attôattaniz
Acc.attanųattanunz
Gen.attinizattanǫ̂
Dat.attiniattammaz
Inst.attinēattammiz
Voc.attôattaniz

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Descendants

  • *attō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *atto, *etto (Old Dutch)
      • ette (Middle Dutch)
        • ette (Dutch)
  • *attō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • atta, aththa, atha, eththa (Old Frisian)
      • ate, aatj, taatje, tääte (North Frisian)
  • *attō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • atta, aththa, atha, eththa (Old Frisian)
      • heit (West Frisian)
        • heit (Dutch)
  • *attō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • atto (Old High German)
      • atte (Middle High German)
        • Ätt (Bavarian)
  • *attō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • atto (Old High German)
      • atte (Middle High German)
        • Ätti, Ätte (Alemannic German)
  • *attō (Proto-West Germanic)
    • *atto, *etto (Old Saxon)
      • ette (Middle Low German)
  • Atti (Old Norse)
    • Atte (Norwegian Nynorsk)
    • Atti (Old Danish)
    • Atte (Old Swedish)
  • 𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 (atta) (Gothic)

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