Cognate Set 6364 – Meaning: ant

IE-CoR reference form:
sengán
IE-CoR reference language:
Old Irish
Ideophonic:
no
Parallel derivation:
no
Justification:
Goidelic lexemes from Old Irish sengán 'ant'. Etymology uncertain, perhaps to be connected with Proto-Germanic *swengwan- 'to swing' (so Vendryes et al. 1959–1996 S:85-86, but proposed connections for this verb outside of Germanic are rejected by Seebold 1970:493, cf. {Kluge 2011}:836).
Found in clades:
Celtic
Revised by:
Matthew Scarborough
Found in 1 clade by 4 lexemes.
Language Lexeme Native script Phonetic Phonemic Notes
158   Old Irish sengán ˈsʲaŋˠɡˠaːn ˈsʲaŋɡaːn Not attested in older period
159   Gaelic: Scottish seangan ʃɛŋɡan
160   Gaelic: Manx sniengan ˈsnʲeŋan ˈsnʲeŋan seangán
161   Gaelic: Irish seangán ˈʃæŋˠɡˠɑːnˠ ˈsʲaŋˠɡˠaːnˠ
References
  • Kluge, Friedrich: 836
    Cf. s.v. NHG schwingen < PGmc. *swengw-a-, without clear correspondences outside of Germanic.
  • Seebold, Elmar: 493
    Cf. s.v. Germanic *swengw-a- 'schwingen', no secure comparisons outside of Germanic.
  • Vendryes, Joseph and Bachellery, Edouard and Lambert, Pierre-Yves: S:85-86
    S.v. sengán 'fourmi', from seng 'mince' + a diminutive suffix. OIr. seng may perhaps be from a root *su̯eng- (or *su̯eg- with with a nasal-infix) expressing the idea of a movement of the body (cf. Germ. schwingen (IEW 1047).