Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary — *meluksScott K. ShayWardja Presshttps://protogermanic.org/pgmc_meluks
Single-entry extract from the dictionary. Cross-references to other entries point to their identifiers in the full dictionary.
*h₂melǵ-to milkmulgeō
nounfeminineconsonant stemmilkFrom Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ- (‘to milk’). Cognate with Latin mulgeō (“milk”, verb).The presence of *-u- in the second syllable is aberrant, as it was not present in the PIE root or even in the related Germanic verb *melkaną. However, the evidence of all descendants speaks unambiguously in favour of its presence. Aside from being directly attested in most of them, it is also implied by Old Norse u-mutation in case forms where it would not be expected, in the raising of e to i before u in the non-Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages, and in the High German shift /k/ → /x/.Possible theories of origin of the disputed *-u-: