Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/hlaib

This Proto-West 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-West Germanic

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hlaibaz. May cognate with Polish chleb, Czech chléb, Serbo-Croatian hlȅb, Slovene hlẹ̑b.

Noun

*hlaib m

1. bread, loaf

   Synonym: *braud

Inflection

Masculine a-stem
	Singular
Nominative	*hlaib
Genitive	*hlaibas
	Singular	Plural
Nominative	*hlaib	*hlaibō, *hlaibōs
Accusative	*hlaib	*hlaibā
Genitive	*hlaibas	*hlaibō
Dative	*hlaibē	*hlaibum
Instrumental	*hlaibu	*hlaibum

Descendants

• Old English: hlāf
  • Middle English: lof, lofe, loff, loof, looffe, love, hlaf, laf (Early Middle English)
    • English: loaf
      • → Bengali: লোফ (lōph)
      • → Marshallese: ļoob
      • → Norwegian Bokmål: loff
      • → Norwegian Nynorsk: loff
      • → Scottish Gaelic: lofa
    • Scots: laif
• Old Frisian: hlēf
  • Saterland Frisian: luffe
  • North Frisian: liaf
• Old Saxon: *hlēf; *hlēfa
  • (Middle Low German: klepe?)
• Old High German: hleib, leib, leip; hlaiba, laiba
  • Middle High German: leip
    • Bavarian: Loab
    • Central Franconian: Laif (only Siegerland)
    • German: Laib
    • Rhine Franconian: Lääb, Laab