Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/albī

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

Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *albʰih₂, derived from *albʰós (“white”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑl.βiː/

Noun

*albī f

1. river

   Synonyms: *ahwō, *fleutą, *flōduz, *rīþaz, *straumaz

2. (as a proper noun) the river Elbe

Inflection

ī/jō-stemDeclension of *albī (ī/jō-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*albī	*albijôz
vocative	*albī	*albijôz
accusative	*albijǭ	*albijōz
genitive	*albijōz	*albijǫ̂
dative	*albijōi	*albijōmaz
instrumental	*albijō	*albijōmiz

Alternative reconstructions

• *albiz

Descendants

• Proto-West Germanic: *albī
  • Old English: Ælf
  • Old Dutch: *Elba, Elva
    • Middle Dutch: Elve
  • Old High German: Elba
    • Middle High German: Elbe
      • German: Elbe
• Old Norse: elfr
  • Icelandic: elfur, elfa
  • Faroese: elvur m, elv f
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: elv; (dialectal) alv, ålv, olv, ølv
  • Old Swedish: ælf
    • Swedish: älv, älf (pre-1906 spelling)
  • Old Danish: ælf, ælv
    • Danish: elv
    • Norwegian Bokmål: elv
• → Latin: Albia, Albis
• → Ancient Greek: Ἄλβις (Álbis)
• → Proto-Slavic: *olba
  • Czech: Labe
  • Kashubian: Łaba
  • Polabian: Låbü
  • Polish: Łaba
  • Russian: Ла́ба (Lába)
  • Serbo-Croatian: Laba
  • Silesian: Łaba
  • Slovak: Labe
  • Slovene: Laba
  • Sorbian:
    • Lower Sorbian: Łobjo
    • Upper Sorbian: Łobjo