Reconstruction talk:Proto-West Germanic/waliþu

@Rua Why should this be at *waliþu and not *weliþu? --{{victar|talk}} 20:20, 11 May 2020 (UTC)

Because e before i or j does not exist in Proto-Germanic or PWG. And a matches all of the descendants, if later umlaut is taken into account. —Rua (mew) 07:35, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

@Rua, Leasnam Is that the law, e > a /C_{i,j}? Seems a weird scenario to trigger rounding. --{{victar|talk}} 17:48, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

The law is e > i. This is then followed by umlaut in the individual languages, which mostly changes a > e in the same environment. —Rua (mew) 18:27, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

@Rua: OK, but what's the law the dictates PWG *welō +‎ *-iþu > *waliþu? --{{victar|talk}} 21:23, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

@Victar: *waliþu would have to come from *walō rather than *welō. *welō + *-iþu would yield *wiliþu. *walō is a byform of *welō (PGmc *walô & *welô) Leasnam (talk) 22:36, 12 May 2020 (UTC)

What kind of byform is walô? Is it an ablaut variant?--Urszag (talk) 02:03, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

Apparently so Leasnam (talk) 02:50, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

@Leasnam: What evidence is there for *walō? --{{victar|talk}} 06:00, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

I see you created an entry for it. OHG wolo is from a zero-grade form of PG *wela and OE weala is the Northumbrian expression of *welō; see {{R:ang:DOE|325}}. I really don't think **walō ever existed. --{{victar|talk}} 06:43, 13 May 2020 (UTC)

*wal- can be inferred from forms of the adverb: plenty of examples exist (Old Dutch wala, Old Dutch waladuon, etc.). Gmw *waliþu is another example, so we know there was originally an e - a - u alternation. There is also the Old High German wala (in ōtwala) (< Proto-West Germanic *walu₂, perhaps going back to a Proto-Germanic *walō) Leasnam (talk) 15:41, 13 May 2020 (UTC)