Reconstruction:Old English/eormen

This Old English 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.

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *ermun, from Proto-Germanic *ermunaz.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈe͜or.men/, [ˈe͜orˠ.men]

Noun

*eormen m

  1. (poetic) world, earth[1]

Alternative reconstructions

  • *yrmen, *irmin, *irmen, *iurmin, *iurmen

Derived terms

  • eormencynn (“earth-kind”) (cf. OE eorþcynn, OHG weraltkunni, erdkunni)
  • eormenlāf (+ lāf (“heirloom, treasure”), cf. OE eorþġestrēon (“earthly treasure”))
  • eormenstrȳnd (“human race”) (+ strīend (“generation, race”))
  • eormenwyrt (“mallow”) (+ wyrt (“plant, herb”))
  • ġeormanlēaf (“mallow”) (+ lēaf (“leaf”))
    • Middle English: eormeleaf, geormenleaf, ȝeormaleaf

References

  1. ^ Beeler, Madison S. (1961), “A New Etymology: Germanic *erma/in(a)- Reconsidered”, in Schmitt, Ludwig Erich, editor, Dichtung und Deutung: Gedächtnisschrift für Hans M. Wolff, Bern; München: Francke Verlag, →OCLC, pages 9–21

Further reading

  • Campbell, Alistair (1959), Old English grammar, Oxford University Press, page 59: “I exclude from this list the name-element Irmin- BH (all early manuscripts), Ct. 4, as these texts sometimes omit the second element of short diphthongs (see § 140); LV and Gn. have Iurmin- Iurmen-, with breaking, the only clear exception to the rule.”
  • Fulk, R.D. (1992), A History of Old English Meter, University of Pennsylvania Press, page 291:
    Kentish eo for io (eWS ie) as i-mutation of io before covered r [...] This feature is largely confined to Kentish because in the Anglian dialects, i in the position for i-mutation before r usually failed to be affected by breaking (Luick, §139.2; Campbell, §154.3 and nn. 3-4; Brunner, §83 n.), and of course in West Saxon io was mutated to ie. [...] Yet eorre and eormen- may also be Anglian: see Campbell, §154.3 and n. 3. [...] Eormen- appears in Beowulf, Solomon and Saturn II, and the Fortunes of Men, beside yrmen- in Beowulf, Juliana, Christ II, and the Menologium.
  • Hogg, Richard (2011), A Grammar of Old English, Volume I: Phonology, Wiley-Blackwell, pages 87, 88: “the proper name element LVD, KSB 12 † Iurmin-, Iurmen. [...] Compare Bede † Irmin and the Kt Ch 8 Irmin, texts where breaking diphthongs are often omitted.”
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