< Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic

Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/helm

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Proto-West Germanic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Germanic *helmaz.

Noun

*helm m

  1. helmet
Inflection
Masculine a-stem
Singular
Nominative *helm
Genitive *helmas
Singular Plural
Nominative *helm *helmō, *helmōs
Accusative *helm *helmā
Genitive *helmas *helmō
Dative *helmē *helmum
Instrumental *helmu *helmum
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Old English: helm
    • Middle English: helm
  • Old Frisian: helm
    • Saterland Frisian: Hälm
    • West Frisian: helm
  • Old Saxon: helm
    • Middle Low German: helm
  • Old Dutch: helm
  • Old High German: helm
  • → Latin: helmus [8th century, Reichenau Glossary] (see there for further descendants)
  • → Proto-Slavic: *šelmъ (see there for further descendants)

Etymology 2

From Proto-Germanic *helmaz, related to *halmaz (“haulm, straw, hay; stalk”) (whence *halm). The ablaut points to an older athematic paradigm in Proto-Indo-European, according to Kroonen probably *ḱélh₂m̥ ~ *ḱl̥h₂mós; compare Lithuanian kélmas (“tree trunk”).[1] The o-grade in *halmaz and cognates such as Latin culmus, Proto-Slavic *sòlma and Latvian sal̃ms may have come either from an accusative stem *ḱolh₂-m- or by analogy with the thematic suffix *-(ó)-mos.[2] In any case ultimately from the root *ḱelh₂- (“to prick, stab; straw, reed”).

Noun

*helm m

  1. a reedy grass that dries as hollow stalks: bentgrass (genus Agrostis or Ammophila); sedge
  2. Synonym of *halm (“stalk, haulm, straw”)
Inflection
Masculine a-stem
Singular
Nominative *helm
Genitive *helmas
Singular Plural
Nominative *helm *helmō, *helmōs
Accusative *helm *helmā
Genitive *helmas *helmō
Dative *helmē *helmum
Instrumental *helmu *helmum
Descendants
  • Old English: *helm
    • Middle English: helm
      • English: helm (“stalk, haulm; bentgrass”)
  • Old Dutch: *helm
    • Middle Dutch: *helm
  • Low German: helm (“sedge; marram grass”)
    • → Danish: hjælme
    • → Icelandic: hjálmur

References
  1. Kroonen, Guus (2013) “*halma-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 204–205: “*helma-”
  2. Kroonen, Guus (2011) “*helm, *hulmaz”, in The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A study in diachronic morphophonology, Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 162–163
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