Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hlahtr

This Proto-West Germanic entry contains reconstructed words 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

From Proto-Germanic *hlahtraz.

Noun

*hlahtr m[1]

laughter

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*hlahtr
Genitive	*hlahtras
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*hlahtr	hlahtrō, hlahtrōs
Accusative	*hlahtr	*hlahtrā
Genitive	*hlahtras	*hlahtrō
Dative	*hlahtrē	*hlahtrum
Instrumental	*hlahtru	*hlahtrum

Related terms

*hlahhjan

Descendants

Old English: hleahtor
- Middle English: laughter, laghter, laȝter
  - Scots: lachter, lauchter
  - English: laughter
Old Saxon: *hlahtar
- Middle Low German: lachter
Old High German: lahtar, hlahtar
- Middle High German: lahter, gelehter
  - German: Gelächter

References

Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 176: “PWGmc *hlahtr”

[1] Ringe, Donald; Taylor, Ann (2014) The Development of Old English (A Linguistic History of English; 2), Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 176: “PWGmc *hlahtr”