*-umnijō

Probably from pre-Germanic *-m̥n-yéh₂ / *-mn̥-yéh₂ yielding Proto-Germanic *-umnijō / *-munijō (with the *-i- from Siever’s Law), a zero-grade Proto-Indo-European *men-stem suffix, reformulated as a feminine ō-stem with the original stem-final cluster reanalyzed as part of the original stem. This accounts for the close relation between Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌷𐌼𐌿𐌽𐌹 (lauhmuni) from PGmc *lauhmunijō < pre-Germanic *louk-mn̥-yéh₂ and Middle English levene from PGmc *lauhumnijō < pre-Germanic *louk-m̥n-yéh₂ (with loss of nasality of the *-m- via dissimilation (Fulk 2018: 121)), ultimately from PIE root *lewk-. It also explains Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐍄𐌿𐌱𐌽𐌹 (witubni) from pre-Germanic *witumnijō < pre-Gmc *wid-m̥n-yéh₂ beside Sanskrit वि॒द्मन् (vid-mán-), from PIE root *weyd-, and comparable *-men- formations (Kluge 1899: §150; Krahe & Meid 1969: 129–30; Johnsen 2005a: 141–43; Kroonen 2011a: 182–84; Wodtko et al. 2008: 244–45).