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

helmet

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*helm
Genitive	*helmas
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*helm	*helmōs
Accusative	*helm	*helmā
Genitive	*helmas	*helmō
Dative	*helmē	*helmum
Instrumental	*helmu	*helmum

Derived terms

Descendants

Old English: helm
- Middle English: helm
  - English: helm
Old Frisian: helm
- Saterland Frisian: Hälm
- West Frisian: helm
Old Saxon: helm
- Middle Low German: helm
  - Low German: Helm
Old Dutch: helm
- Middle Dutch: helm
  - Dutch: helm
    - Afrikaans: helm
Old High German: helm, halm (10th C. compounds)
- Middle High German: helm
  - German: Helm
    - Polish: hełm
  - Luxembourgish: 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

a reedy grass that dries as hollow stalks: bentgrass (genus Agrostis or Ammophila); sedge
synonym of *halm (“stalk, haulm, straw”)

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*helm
Genitive	*helmas
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*helm	*helmōs
Accusative	*helm	*helmā
Genitive	*helmas	*helmō
Dative	*helmē	*helmum
Instrumental	*helmu	*helmum

Related terms

*halm
^? *helmō, *halmō (“rudder, tiller; helm (of a boat)”)^[1]^[2]

Descendants

Old English: *helm
- Middle English: helm
  - English: helm (“stalk, haulm; bentgrass”)
Old Dutch: *helm
- Middle Dutch: *helm
  - Dutch: helm
Low German: helm (“sedge; marram grass”)
- → Danish: hjælme
- → Icelandic: hjálmur

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*halma-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 204–205: “*helma-”
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 Kroonen, Guus (2011), “*helm, *hulmaz”, in The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A study in diachronic morphophonology, Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 162–163

[EDPG-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*halma-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 204–205: “*helma-”

[PGnS-2] 2.0 ^2.1 Kroonen, Guus (2011), “*helm, *hulmaz”, in The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A study in diachronic morphophonology, Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 162–163

[1]

[2]