*paþaz

Runic: ᛈᚨᚦᚨᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈpɑ.θɑz/

noun · masculine · a-stem

Meanings

path

Etymology

Possibly borrowed from Iranian during the Alan invasion (compare Old Persian 𐎱𐎰 (p-θ /⁠paθi⁠/)), from Proto-Iranian *pántaHh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *pántaHs, from Proto-Indo-European *póntoh₁s, from *pent- (‘path’). Compare native Germanic *funsaz (‘ready, willing’) and *finþaną (‘to find, to discover, to come upon’), and additionally cognate with Sanskrit पन्था (pánthā-) (pánthā, ‘way, path’).

However, the above theory has been disputed, with alternative theories taking the word as borrowed from Proto-Celtic *batos (‘death, pestilence’) (whence Old Irish bath (‘death’), Welsh bad (‘pest, plague’)), itself from Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₂- (‘to step, go’); this theory has the constraint that the borrowing must have happened before the Celtic underwent the semantic shift "to go" > "to pass away" > "death", and Kroonen appears to ultimately favor Iranian over Celtic origin, despite suggesting both.

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	paþaz	paþōz, paþōs
Acc.	paþą	paþanz
Gen.	paþas, paþis	paþǫ̂
Dat.	paþai	paþamaz
Inst.	paþō	paþamiz
Voc.	paþ	paþōz, paþōs

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Descendants

*paþ (Proto-West Germanic)
- path (Old Dutch)
  - pat (Middle Dutch)
    - pad (Dutch)
*paþ (Proto-West Germanic)
- pæþ (Old English)
  - path, paath, paaþ, pathe, paththe, paþ, paþþe, pað, peþ (Middle English)
    - path (English)
    - peth, paith (Scots)
*paþ (Proto-West Germanic)
- path (Old Frisian)
  - Paad, Pad (Saterland Frisian)
  - paad (West Frisian)
*paþ (Proto-West Germanic)
- pfad, phad (Old High German)
  - pfat, pat, phat (Middle High German)
    - Pfad (German)
    - Pad, Paad (Luxembourgish)
*paþ (Proto-West Germanic)
- path (Old Saxon)
  - pat, pāt, paet (Middle Low German)
    - Pad, Paad, Padd (Low German)
      - Padd (German Low German)
*padëh (Proto-Finnic)

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