*fallaną

Reconstruction

The infinitive is *fallaną in Wiktionary,^[1] *fallanan in Orel,^[2] *fallan in Köbler^[3] and FALL-A- in Seebold.^[4] Kroonen cites it by its stem *fallan-,^[5] and de Vries starts from *falnan.^[6]

Etymology

Kroonen has it from Proto-Indo-European *h₃elh₁- (“to fall”), as a univerbation of that root with the adverb Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó (“off”), after Praust and Neri;^[5] Wiktionary gives the same theory, through a PIE compound *h₂peh₃lH-.^[1]

Morphology

A reduplicating strong verb, class VII.^[7][8] Kroonen says it functions synchronically as an o-grade intensive verb.^[5] Its geminate l requires a nasal suffix: Pre-Germanic *peh₃l-né- became *palné- by Osthoff's law and then *falle- by Kluge's law.^[5] Mailhammer counts it among the verbs with an uncertain Indo-European etymology.^[7]

Evidence

The verb is attested in North and West Germanic: Old Norse falla, Old English fallan, Old Frisian falla, Old Saxon fallan and Old High German fallan.^[5] Neither Kroonen nor Orel lists a Gothic form.^[5][2] Old High German has it from the 8th century, with the past fial, fialun and the participle gifallan.^[8] Old Frisian follows the ablaut of class VI.^[4]

Competing analyses

Kroonen sets the verb beside Ancient Greek ἀπόλλῡμι (apóllūmi, “to destroy, to lose”), Latin aboleō (“to destroy, to abolish”), Lithuanian pùlti (“to fall”), Latvian pult (“to fall”) and Old Prussian au-pallai (“finds”), and compares Hittite ḥallannai (“to trample down, to flatten”).^[5] Orel instead reconstructs *pol-n- or *pol-, with the same Baltic verbs,^[2] and Köbler starts from an IE *pʰō̆l-.^[3] EWA also names the Lithuanian and Latvian verbs as related.^[8] Orel cites Wood's older comparison with Ancient Greek πίπτω (píptō, “to fall”).^[2]

Meanings

1. to fall^[5][2][3][1]

Old Norse also used the verb for "to die" and "to happen",^[6] Old English for "to decay, to die, to flow",^[9] and Old Frisian for "to sink, to flow, to fall due".^[10]

Derivatives

• *fallijaną "to fell", the causative;^[11][12] Kroonen writes *falljan-, Orel *falljanan.^[5][2]
• *fallaz "a fall; death, downfall";^[13] EWA calls *falla-/falli- a verbal abstract to the verb.^[14]
• *erþōfallaz "a fall to the ground", with *erþō.^[15]
• In Orel: the adjectives *fallaz and *falliz, the compound *wala-fallaz "the fall of the slain", and *fōljanan "to feel", which he takes as a derivative of the verb.^[2]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: falla (“to fall, to die, to happen”)^[6]
• Old English: feallan (“to fall, to decay, to die, to flow”)^[9]
• Old Frisian: falla (“to fall, to collapse, to sink, to flow”)^[10]
• Old Saxon: fallan (“to fall, to perish”)^[16]
• Old High German: fallan (“to fall, to plunge, to sink, to perish”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fallaną
2. ^ a b c d e f g Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *fallanan
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *fallan
4. ^ a b Seebold, Elmar (1970), Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, The Hague / Paris: Mouton, p. FALL-A-
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 125
6. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. falla
7. ^ a b Mailhammer, Robert (2007), The Germanic Strong Verbs: Foundations and Development of a New System, Trends in Linguistics 183, Berlin / New York: Mouton de Gruyter, p. 224
8. ^ a b c d Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. fallan
9. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. feallan
10. ^ a b Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. falla
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fallijaną
12. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. fellen
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fallaz
14. ^ Lloyd, Albert L.; Springer, Otto; Lühr, Rosemarie, et al. (1988–), Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht; online ewa.saw-leipzig.de, p. s.v. fal
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *erþōfallaz
16. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fallan