Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/kwabbā

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

From Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₂bʰ- (“to sink, submerge, dive”). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?) Another theory by Kroonen derives the word from a Proto-Indo-European *gʷeh₁bʰ- (“soft mass”) and connects Old Armenian կաւ (kaw, “clay”), though this is uncertain.

Noun

*kwabbā f

1. anything soft and firmless; a squishy lump, mass, or lobe; flab
2. soggy ground
3. (zoology) a bottom-dwelling fish (e.g. burbot); tadpole

Inflection

ōn-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*kwabbā
Genitive	*kwabbōn
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*kwabbā	*kwabbōn
Accusative	*kwabbōn	*kwabbōn
Genitive	*kwabbōn	*kwabbōnō
Dative	*kwabbōn	*kwabbōm, *kwabbum
Instrumental	*kwabbōn	*kwabbōm, *kwabbum

Derived terms

• *kwabbag

Descendants

• Old English: *cwabbe
  • Middle English: quabbe
    • English: quab, quob, possibly quag
    • → Latin: quabba
• Old Frisian: *kwabbe, *quabbe
  • Saterland Frisian: Kwabbe
  • West Frisian: kwabbe, kwab
• Old Saxon: *kwabba, *kwappa
  • Middle Low German: quappe, quabbe
    • German Low German: Quabb, Quebbe (“marshland”)
    • → Old Danish: kvabbe
    • → Old Swedish: qvappa
      • Swedish: kvabba
• ⇒ Old Saxon: kwappia, quappia, *quabbia, *quebbia
  • Middle Low German: quebbe, queb, quobbe, quöbbe f or n
• Old Dutch: *kwabba, *quappa
  • Middle Dutch: quabbe, quappe
    • Dutch: kwab
• Old High German: kwappa, quappa; kwappo, quappo m
  • Middle High German: quappe, kape, kope, quabbe
    • German: Quappe, Quabbe