schwebeablaut

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noun

The phenomenon or process of metathesis in a Proto-Indo-European root between the vowel and a neighbouring sonorant, which led to both possible full-grades existing, e.g. *grebʰ- and *gerbʰ-.

Scrabble 25

Meanings

schwebeablaut1

nounschwebeablaut (uncountable)

alternative Schwebeablaut

  1. Indo European studiesuncountableThe phenomenon or process of metathesis in a Proto-Indo-European root between the vowel and a neighbouring sonorant, which led to both possible full-grades existing, e.g. *grebʰ- and *gerbʰ-.
verbschwebeablaut (third-person singular simple present schwebeablauts, present participle schwebeablauting, simple past and past participle schwebeablauted)

present singular third person schwebeablauts · participle present schwebeablauting · participle past schwebeablauted · past schwebeablauted · alternative Schwebeablaut

  1. Indo European studiesTo undergo the above process.

    But, in any event, Beekes' reconstruction seems less than ideal, given that it effectively relies on a schwebeablauting root[.]

    2013, Sievers' Law and the History of Semivowel Syllabicity, →ISBN, page 287
    1 more example

    The number given with the root tells the number of subgroups where it schwebeablauts, and the number after the subgroup name indicates the amount of roots/words that schwebeablaut in some other subgroup as well […]

    1969, University of California Publications in Linguistics

Schwebeablaut2

nounSchwebeablaut (uncountable)
  1. uncountableAlternative letter-case form of schwebeablaut.

Origin

  1. GermanSchwebeablaut“floating ablaut”
  2. Englishschwebeablaut

Borrowed from German Schwebeablaut (“floating ablaut”), from schweben (“float, hover”).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

schwebeablaut. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schwebeablaut

MLA

“schwebeablaut.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schwebeablaut. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “schwebeablaut,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/schwebeablaut.

Source: schwebeablaut on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.