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The Words for “Fire” in Germanic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2009

Douglas P. A. Simms
Douglas P. A. Simms*
Affiliation:
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
*
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL 62026, USA, [dsimms@siue.edu]
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Abstract

This article puts forth a comprehensive set of etymologies for “fire” words in the Germanic languages that descend from Proto-Indo-Euro-pean (PIE) +péh2-. I propose that all relevant cognates are derived from the PIE holokinetic inflection, that is, +ph2-ōr (nominative-accusative) ~ +ph2-un- (oblique), and that all variants in the Germanic languages arose as a result of analogical changes in the Proto-Germanic and later periods. Furthermore, these etymologies cast doubt on reconstructions that require the positing of +ū in Proto-Germanic or Proto-Indo-European. In addition to providing cause to review existing reconstructions, this article also provides a closer philological view of the evidence of cognates in Germanic.

Type
ARTICLES
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 21 , Issue 3 , September 2009 , pp. 297 - 333
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Germanic Linguistics 2009

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