Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/Rūmu

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 *Rūmō, from Proto-Celtic *Rūmā,[1] from Latin Rōma.

Proper noun

*Rūmu f

Rome

Inflection

ō-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*Rūmu
Genitive	*Rūmā
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*Rūmu	—
Accusative	*Rūmā	—
Genitive	*Rūmā	—
Dative	*Rūmē	—
Instrumental	*Rūmu	—

Derived terms

*rūmawari

Descendants

In many of these descendants, the original form was later influenced by the original Latin form and/or nearby Romance languages (especially French). This caused most languages to eventually replace the earlier ū with ō.

Old English: Rōm, Rūm
- Middle English: Rome
  - English: Rome
  - Scots: Roum, Rome
Old Frisian: Rūme
Old Saxon: Rūma
- Middle Low German: Rōme, Rōm
  - Dutch Low Saxon: Rome
Old Dutch: *Rōma
- Middle Dutch: rōme
  - Dutch: Rome
    - Afrikaans: Rome
  - Limburgish: Roeme
Old High German: Rūma, Rōma
- Middle High German: Rōme
  - German: Rom
  - Luxembourgish: Roum

References

David Stifter (2009), ‘The Proto-Germanic shift *ā>*ō and early Germanic linguistic contacts’ (pdf), Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics, Bd. 122

[1] David Stifter (2009), ‘The Proto-Germanic shift *ā>*ō and early Germanic linguistic contacts’ (pdf), Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics, Bd. 122