Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary — *swimmanąScott K. ShayWardja Presshttps://protogermanic.org/pgmc_swimmaną
Single-entry extract from the dictionary. Cross-references to other entries point to their identifiers in the full dictionary.
seinnidto reach, bring
verbStrong class 3to be unsteadyto swim; floatOf uncertain origin. Appears to stem from a quasi-Indo-European root *swem(bʰ)- (‘to be unsteady, move, swim’), albeit with no certain cognates outside of Germanic. Kroonen rejects phonetic and semantic connection to Old Irish seinnid (‘to reach, bring’). Orel (who reconstructs the Proto-Germanic as *swemmaną) considers the word a secondary ablaut of Proto-Germanic *swīmaną (‘to move back and forth’), which he derives from a hypothetical earlier *swīp-m-anan and tentatively connects to *swaipaną (‘to sweep’). This is semantically attractive, though requires a somewhat phonetically bold pre-form.