Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/imbī

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

Unknown; possibly related to Ancient Greek ἐμπίς (empís, “mosquito”), Latin apis (“bee”) via a European substrate,[1] though Kroonen rejects the Greek comparison.[2]

Noun

*imbī m

bee
beeswarm

Inflection

Masculine ja-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*imbī
Genitive	*imbijas
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*imbī	imbijō, imbijōs
Accusative	*imbī	*imbijā
Genitive	*imbijas	*imbijō
Dative	*imbijē	*imbijum
Instrumental	*imbiju	*imbijum

Descendants

Old English: imbe, ymbe
Old Frisian: *em, *eme (in derivative emka)
- North Frisian: imkönag
- Saterland Frisian: Ieme; Imker
- West Frisian: ime
Old Saxon: *imbi
- Middle Low German: imme; immenkar
  - Low German: Imm
    - German Low German: Imme, Imm
Old Dutch: *imbi
- Middle Dutch: imme
  - Dutch: imme
Old High German: imbi, impi
- Middle High German: imbe, impe, imme
  - German: Imme
  - Bavarian: Imp

References

van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “imme”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute
Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*embja-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 117

[1] van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “imme”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

[2] Kroonen, Guus (2013), “*embja-”, in Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 117