< Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic

Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/rattaz

This Proto-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-Germanic

Etymology

The origin of this word (and the related *rattō) is uncertain. It may derive from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁d- (“to scrape, gnaw, scratch”) (whence e.g. Latin rōdō and Latin rādō), but this is disputed, and Klein says that such a connection does not exist.[1] The word may also go back to an unknown substrate language. Kroonen notes that consonant variation is high in descendant languages, especially in the High German dialects (Middle High German rate, radde, ratte, ratze). Older etymological sources explained the Germanic words as borrowings from Romance, but it is now accepted that this is not the case; Kroonen even asserts that the Romance (and Celtic) words must be borrowed from Germanic. He considers it plausible, however—especially considering dialectal Ratz/Ratze (“polecat”)—that the Germanic word originally referred to a different animal.[2] The rat itself may have been unknown in Europe at a Proto-Germanic date.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /ˈrɑt.tɑz/

Noun

*rattaz m

  1. rat

Inflection
masculine a-stemDeclension of *rattaz (masculine a-stem)
singular plural
nominative *rattaz *rattōz, *rattōs
vocative *ratt *rattōz, *rattōs
accusative *rattą *rattanz
genitive *rattas, *rattis *rattǫ̂
dative *rattai *rattamaz
instrumental *rattō *rattamiz

Alternative reconstructions
  • *raþô, gen. *ruttaz[2]

Descendants

  • Proto-West Germanic: *ratt; *ratō
    • Old English: rætt
    • Old Frisian: *rat
    • Old Dutch: *rato, *roto
      • Middle Dutch: ratte
        • Dutch: rat
          • Afrikaans: rot
          • Jersey Dutch: rot
          • Negerhollands: rotto, roto
            • → Virgin Islands Creole: roto (dated)
          • →? Kari'na: alata (via Sranantongo, possibly from Spanish)
          • →? Saramaccan: alátu (possibly from Spanish)
        • Limburgish: rat
    • Old High German: rato
    • → Old French: rat
  • → Vulgar Latin: rattus, ratus

References
  1. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “rat”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. Kroonen, Guus (2011) “*raþō, *ruttaz”, in The Proto-Germanic n-stems: A study in diachronic morphophonology, Amsterdam, New York: Rodopi, →ISBN, pages 221–223
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