*swainaz

Runic: ᛊᚹᚨᛁᚾᚨᛉ Pronunciation: /ˈswɑi̯.nɑz/

noun · masculine · a-stem

Meanings

relative; kinsman
young man
herder; herdsman, swineherd

Etymology

Either from Proto-Indo-European *s(w)e- (‘separate; apart; oneself; one's own’), or derived from *swīną (‘pig, swine’), that is, a "pig herder" > "young man, relative". It is also possible that both derivations converged and conflated in the descendant languages.

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nom.	swainaz	swainōz, swainōs
Acc.	swainą	swainanz
Gen.	swainas, swainis	swainǫ̂
Dat.	swainai	swainamaz
Inst.	swainō	swainamiz
Voc.	swain	swainōz, swainōs

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Descendants

*swain (Proto-West Germanic)
- swān (Old English)
  - swan, swane, swon, swone (Middle English)
*swain (Proto-West Germanic)
- swein (Old High German)
  - swein (Middle High German)
    - Schwein (German)
*swain (Proto-West Germanic)
- swēn (Old Saxon)
  - swên, swein (Middle Low German)
sveinn (Old Norse)
- sveinur (Faroese)
- sveinn (Icelandic)
sveinn (Old Norse)
- svein, sveidn (Norwegian Nynorsk)
  - svein (Norwegian Bokmål)
sveinn (Old Norse)
- swen (Old Danish)
  - svend (Danish)
    - svenn (Norwegian Bokmål)
sveinn (Old Norse)
- sweġen (Old English)
  - swayn, sweine, sweyn, sueyn, swain, swein, swaine, sweyne, swane (Middle English)
    - swain (English)
    - swaine, swane (Scots)
sveinn (Old Norse)
- svēn, svæn (Old Swedish)
  - sven (Swedish)
*svājnës (Proto-Samic)

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