*felu

Reconstruction

The word is *felu in Ringe, Orel and Wiktionary,^[1][2][3] *felu- in Köbler, and *felu ~ *fulu- in Kroonen.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *pélh₁u (“much”), the neuter of a PIE u-stem.^[1][5] Kroonen and Wiktionary derive it from the root Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”), the root of *fullaz "full".^[5][3]

Morphology

A neuter u-stem.^[6] Ringe counts it among the securely reconstructable neuter u-stems: it was a noun, like English "a lot".^[7] Kroonen thinks the adjective may at first have had only the neuter form *felu, with the following noun in the genitive.^[5] EWA also starts from a noun meaning "multitude", and points to the genitive Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃 (filaus, “by much”) used with comparatives.^[8] Wiktionary takes it as the neuter singular of an older adjective *feluz.^[3]

Its final *-u, after a short syllable, survived in Anglian Old English and Old High German.^[9] In PIE the word had an ablauting paradigm, which Kroonen thinks explains the o of Ancient Greek πολύ (polú) against the e of Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌿 (filu).^[5]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌿 (filu), the prefix Old Norse fjǫl-, and Old English fela, Old Frisian felo, Old Saxon filu and Old High German filu in West Germanic.^[5] It was borrowed into Finnic as *paljo, Finnish paljo "much", from a Proto-Norse *felu.^[10] Its cognates include Sanskrit पुरु (purú, “much”), Ancient Greek πολύς (polús, “much, many”) and Old Irish il (“many”).^[5][11]

Competing analyses

Kroonen thinks the forms Old Frisian fule and fole, and Dutch veul in Dutch dialects, keep the zero grade of the root, following Bremmer.^[5] Wiktionary sets up a separate *fulu, from a PIE *pl̥h₁ús.^[12] For the Finnic word, Karsten proposed a source *falu, which LÄGLOS rejects;^[10] de Vries left open whether it is Finno-Ugric after all.^[13]

Meanings

1. much, many^[5][4]
2. a lot, a lot of; as an adverb, very^[3]

In Old Norse the word is a noun "multitude", used in compounds for "much", as in Old Norse fjǫlauðigr (“very rich”).^[13]

Derivatives

• *flaizan- "more", the comparative, from *plóh₁-is-on-;^[14] Wiktionary's *flaizô, with the superlative *flaistaz "most".^[15][16]
• *felauz "greatly, by far", the genitive.^[17]
• Compounds: *felufaihaz "manifold, multicoloured" and *feluwurdijaną "to be talkative".^[18][19]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐍆𐌹𐌻𐌿 (filu, “much”)^[20]
• Old Norse: fjǫl (“multitude; in compounds, much”)^[13]
• Old English: fela (“much, very”)^[21]
• Old Frisian: fel (“much”)^[22]
• Old Saxon: filu (“much”)^[23]
• Old High German: filu (“much, very”)^[8]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 114
2. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *felu
3. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *felu
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *felu-
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. 136
6. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. filu
7. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 304
8. ^ a b 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. filu
9. ^ Schaffner, Stefan (2001), Das Vernersche Gesetz und der innerparadigmatische grammatische Wechsel des Urgermanischen im Nominalbereich, Innsbrucker Beiträge zur Sprachwissenschaft 103, Innsbruck, p. 251
10. ^ a b Kylstra, A. D.; Hahmo, Sirkka-Liisa; Hofstra, Tette; Nikkilä, Osmo (1991–2012), Lexikon der älteren germanischen Lehnwörter in den ostseefinnischen Sprachen, 3 vols, Amsterdam / Atlanta / New York: Rodopi, p. 22
11. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 96
12. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fulu
13. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fjǫl
14. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 143
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *flaizô
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *flaistaz
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *felauz
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *felufaihaz
19. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *feluwurdijaną
20. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. filu
21. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fela
22. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altfriesisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fel
23. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. filo