Etymology and origin of the Proto-Germanic word *dailiz
- Confidence
- Established
- From
- Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
Etymology tree
From the same root
Reconstruction
The word is *dailiz in Ringe and Wiktionary,[1][2] *đailiz in Orel,[3] *daili-, *dailiz in Köbler,[4] and the stem *daili- in Kroonen.[5]
Etymology
Wiktionary tentatively has it from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, to do”), through *dʰ(h₁)-oy-lo-, but calls the derivation highly uncertain for lack of parallels;[2] Kroonen allows the same derivation for the related neuter *daila-, noting that the formation has no direct parallels in any other IE language.[5]
Morphology
An i-stem, masculine or feminine.[4] The Gothic word is a feminine i-stem,[6] the Old English word a masculine i-stem.[7] The i of the second syllable caused umlaut in Old English, *dailiz > *dāli > Old English dǣl,[8] and in Old Frisian it gave dēl, beside deil.[8]
Evidence
The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (dails), a late Old Norse deill, and Old English dǣl, Old Frisian dēl, Old Saxon dēl and Old High German teil in West Germanic, according to Orel.[3] Kroonen derives only the Gothic and the Old English masculine from *daili-, and the neuter Old English dāl, Old Frisian, Dutch and Old High German forms from *daila-.[5] Outside Germanic, Orel equates it with Slavic *dělь "part, division";[3] Wiktionary gives Proto-Slavic *dělъ and Lithuanian dailýti (“to divide”).[2] Kroonen calls *daila- a Germanic and Balto-Slavic isogloss, and thinks that Old Irish dál and Old Welsh daul, "share, part", were borrowed from Old English.[5]
Competing analyses
Casaretto restricts the feminine i-stem to Gothic and sets beside it a Germanic *daila-, masculine or neuter, in the Northwest Germanic forms; since the genders differ, he rejects deriving all of them from *daili-.[9] Among older views, Orel lists Pedersen's derivation of the Germanic word from Slavic,[3] and, for the verb, Martynov's view that it was borrowed from Slavic.[10] Orel himself relates the word to a root *dāi-, *dī- "to divide", with an irregular initial consonant.[3]
Meanings
Old Frisian also used the word for an inheritance, a district or court district, and a party in a lawsuit,[11] and Old English for a region or an amount.[7]
Derivatives
- *dailijaną "to divide, to share", with *-janą;[12] Ringe notes that its sense follows from the noun.[1] Kroonen calls *dailjan- a factitive,[5] Orel writes *đailjanan.[10]
- *dailiþō "division, portion", with *-iþō.[13]
- Related nouns: *dailą "part, portion" and *dailǭ "part, division";[2] Kroonen's *daila- "share, part",[5] and Orel's *đailō(n) "disagreement, contest".[14]
Reflexes
- Gothic: 𐌳𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (dails, “part, portion, share”)[6]
- Old Norse: deill (“deal, share”), late, in Orel's cognate list[3]
- Old English: dǣl (“part, share, region, amount”)[7]
- Old Frisian: dēl (“part, share, inheritance, district”)[11]
- Old Saxon: dēl (“share”)[15]
- Old Dutch: deil[2]
- Old High German: teil (“part, share”)[16]
References
- ^ a b c Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 284
- ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *dailiz
- ^ a b c d e f Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *đailiz
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *daili-
- ^ a b c d e f Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 87
- ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dails
- ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. dǣl
- ^ a b Fulk, R. D. (2018), A Comparative Grammar of the Early Germanic Languages, Studies in Germanic Linguistics 3, Amsterdam / Philadelphia: John Benjamins
- ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. dails
- ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *đailjanan
- ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. dēl
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *dailijaną
- ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *dailiþō
- ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *đailō
- ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. del
- ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Althochdeutsches Wörterbuch, 6th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. teil 1
Related etymologies
- *stainaz · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *beraną · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *fadēr · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *watōr · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *ga- · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *frijaz · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *fallaną · also from Proto-Indo-European
- *standaną · also from Proto-Indo-European
Cite this entry
“*dailiz.” Etymologically, 16 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/gem-pro/*dailiz. Accessed 16 Nov. 2026.
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