Another speculative etymology postulates the reduction of the ancestor of "human" to the ancestor of "man". Human is from *', "earth", thus implying *' would be an "earthdweller". The latter word, when reduced to just its final syllable, would be merely *"m-on-". This is the view of Eric Partridge, "Origins", under "man". Such a derivation might be credible if only the Germanic form was known, but the attested Indo-Iranian "manu" virtually excludes the possibility. Moreover, *' is known to have survived in Old English not as ' but as "", the ancestor of the second element of the Modern English word "bridegroom".