A Native Proto-Indo-European Etymology for Semele: The dHegHom- + -mo- + -a Nominal Suffix Template

The etymology of the Greek goddess name Semele (mother of Dionysus) is heavily contested, with mainstream etymological dictionaries adamantly claiming she is a foreign loanword borrowed from a Thraco-Phrygian substrate due to perceived irregularities in her internal vowel stems. This paper presents a novel, internally consistent native Proto-Indo-European (PIE) etymology that completely dismantles the loanword hypothesis. Utilizing the repeatable double-suffix template (Root + -mo- + -is/-a) established in previous structural reconstructions of archaic Aegean divine names (such as Artemis and Themis), we demonstrate that Semele is a native formation. By compounding the zero-grade PIE root for "earth" (dHgH-) with a Caland-associated characteristic suffix (-mo-) and a primary individualizing feminine agent suffix (-a/-e), we reconstruct the structural intermediate form dHgH-m-el-e. Through regular rules of Proto-Greek initial cluster simplification and vocalic expansion, this framework provides an elegant phonetic and semantic pipeline: "The specific female individual embodying the characteristic aspect of the earth."