Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/dalą

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

Uncertain; suggested to be cognate with Proto-Slavic *dolъ (“below, down; valley, pit”), and Welsh dôl (“meadow, dale”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰól(h₂)os;^[1]^[2] however, if not borrowed from Germanic themselves, is most likely a substrate loanword.^[3] Also speculated here are Ancient Greek θόλος (thólos, “round building”), and θάλαμος (thálamos, “chamber, room”), though this is largely rejected.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈdɑ.lɑ/

Noun

*dalą or *dalaz n or m^[7]^[8]^[9]^[3]^[10]

valley, dale

Inflection

neuter a-stemDeclension of *dalą (neuter a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*dalą	*dalō
vocative	*dalą	*dalō
accusative	*dalą	*dalō
genitive	dalas, dalis	*dalǫ̂
dative	*dalai	*dalamaz
instrumental	*dalō	*dalamiz

masculine a-stemDeclension of *dalaz (masculine a-stem)
	singular	plural
nominative	*dalaz	dalōz, dalōs
vocative	*dal	dalōz, dalōs
accusative	*dalą	*dalanz
genitive	dalas, dalis	*dalǫ̂
dative	*dalai	*dalamaz
instrumental	*dalō	*dalamiz

Reconstruction notes

The West Germanic descendants are generally neuter (though Old High German tal is attested in both neuter and masculine), while the North Germanic descendants are masculine; the gender of the Gothic term cannot be determined. It is therefore unknown whether neuter *dalą or masculine *dalaz is the original form.

Derived terms

*dalê
- Proto-West Germanic: *dalē
  - Old English: -dele
  - Old Frisian: dele
*daljō
*dōlijō

Descendants

Proto-West Germanic: *dal n or m
- Old English: dæl n
  - Middle English: dale, dæle, deale
    - English: dale
    - Scots: dale, daal
- Old Frisian: *dal, del n
  - North Frisian: dal, dalle, dol
  - Saterland Frisian: Doal
  - West Frisian: delle (<? *dalljā)
- Old Saxon: dal n
  - Middle Low German: dal
    - Low German: dal, daal
      - German Low German: Daal
- Old Dutch: dal n
  - Middle Dutch: dal
    - Dutch: dal
      - Afrikaans: dal
    - Limburgish: daal
- Old High German: tal m or n
  - Middle High German: tal
    - Alemannic German: Tall
    - German: Tal
    - Hunsrik: Daal
    - Luxembourgish: Dall
    - Mòcheno: tol
    - Pennsylvania German: Daal
    - Yiddish: טאָל (tol)
- →? Middle Welsh: dol
Old Norse: dalr m
- Faroese: dalur
- Icelandic: dalur
- Norwegian Nynorsk: dal; (dialectal) dal'e
- Old Swedish: dal
  - Swedish: dal
- Danish: dal
  - Norwegian Bokmål: dal
- → Scottish Gaelic: dail
Gothic: 𐌳𐌰𐌻 (dal), *𐌳𐌰𐌻𐍃 (*dals) ?
→? Proto-Slavic: *dolъ (see there for further descendants)

References

^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “1. dhel-, dholo-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 245-246
^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), “*dhólhₐos”, in Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 618
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Boutkan, Dirk, Siebinga, Sjoerd (2005) “dele”, in Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 1), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 70: “PGMC: *dalaz; No certain IE etymology”
^ Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980) “θάλαμος”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck, pages 419-420
^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972) “θάλαμος”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter
^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “θόλος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 550-551: “The comparison with a [sic] European word for ‘valley, etc.’, [..] should be discarded.”
^ Vladimir Orel (2003) “*đalaz ~ *đalan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 67
^ Guus Kroonen (2013) “*dala-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 87: “*dʰolh₂-o-”
^ Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Tal”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 719: “g. *dala- m./n.”
^ Hellquist, Elof (1922) “dal”, in Svensk etymologisk ordbok [Swedish etymological dictionary]‎^[3] (in Swedish), Lund: C. W. K. Gleerups förlag, pages 84-85: “germ. *dala-”

[1] Pokorny, Julius (1959) “1. dhel-, dholo-”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 1, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 245-246

[2] Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), “*dhólhₐos”, in Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 618

[OFED-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Boutkan, Dirk, Siebinga, Sjoerd (2005) “dele”, in Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 1), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 70: “PGMC: *dalaz; No certain IE etymology”

[4] Chantraine, Pierre (1968–1980) “θάλαμος”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque (in French), Paris: Klincksieck, pages 419-420

[5] Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972) “θάλαμος”, in Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter

[6] Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010) “θόλος”, in Etymological Dictionary of Greek (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 10), with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 550-551: “The comparison with a [sic] European word for ‘valley, etc.’, [..] should be discarded.”

[7] Vladimir Orel (2003) “*đalaz ~ *đalan”, in A Handbook of Germanic Etymology‎^[1], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 67

[8] Guus Kroonen (2013) “*dala-”, in Alexander Lubotsky, editor, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11)‎^[2], Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 87: “*dʰolh₂-o-”

[9] Friedrich Kluge (1989) “Tal”, in Elmar Seebold, editor, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the German Language] (in German), 22nd edition, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 719: “g. *dala- m./n.”

[10] Hellquist, Elof (1922) “dal”, in Svensk etymologisk ordbok [Swedish etymological dictionary]‎^[3] (in Swedish), Lund: C. W. K. Gleerups förlag, pages 84-85: “germ. *dala-”

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