*hailaz

Reconstruction

The adjective is *hailaz in Ringe and Wiktionary,^[1][2] *xailaz in Orel,^[3] and the stem *haila- in Kroonen, Köbler and Heidermanns.^[4][5][6]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it inherited from Proto-Indo-European *kéh₂ilos (“healthy, whole”).^[2] Kroonen starts from *koi-lo-,^[4] and Ringe from a post-PIE *koylos "healthy".^[1] Heidermanns calls it an inherited adjective with no verbal base, IE *koilo-.^[6]

Morphology

An adjective of the a-stems,^[5] with the suffix *-la- added directly to the root.^[7][8] Bammesberger finds no clear root element in it.^[7]

Evidence

The adjective is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (hails), Old Norse heill, and Old English hāl, Old Frisian hēl, Old Saxon hēl and Old High German heil in West Germanic.^[4] Heidermanns calls it common Germanic, frequent in greetings in all the languages, and adds a Crimean Gothic word for "healthy".^[6] The derivative meaning "holy" is recorded on the Gothic ring of Pietroassa.^[3][6] Its cognates include Balto-Slavic Proto-Slavic *cělъ (“whole”), continued in Old Church Slavonic, and an Old Prussian word for "health".^[4][6][2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen keeps apart Latin caelum (“sky”) and the Welsh and Breton words for "omen", from *keh₂i-lo-;^[4] Orel, on the other hand, relates the adjective to Welsh coel (“sign, omen”).^[3] The neuter noun "luck, omen", Old Norse heill and Old English hǣl, is a substantivised adjective for Orel, his *xailaz I,^[3] but for Heidermanns a separate s-stem not directly related, comparable to the Welsh word,^[6] and de Vries derives the Old Norse noun from *hailza-, going back to an s-stem.^[9] Wiktionary gives the noun "omen, portent" a page of its own, probably of the same derivation as the adjective.^[2] The original meaning is disputed: Heidermanns gives "physically sound, unhurt",^[6] while EWA finds it far more likely that a word of the pre-Christian magical and religious sphere, "full of luck", passed into everyday use, health being seen as a result of the luck granted by the gods.^[10]

Meanings

1. whole, sound, healthy^[4][3][2]
2. unhurt, safe^[5]
3. hail! as a greeting^[2]

Gothic also used the word as a greeting, "hail",^[5] and in Old High German it also meant "saved, redeemed".^[10]

Derivatives

• *hailagaz "holy, sacred";^[11][12] Orel's *xailaʒaz.^[3]
• *hailijaną "to heal", a factitive.^[13][14]
• *hailiþō "wholeness, health",^[15] *hailnaną "to be healed",^[16] *hailisōną "to greet"^[17] and *hailasamaz "wholesome".^[18]
• In Orel, the compound *xaila-wanđjaz "conducive to health".^[3]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 (hails, “whole, healthy”)^[19]
• Old Norse: heill (“auspicious; unhurt, complete”)^[9]
• Old English: hāl (“whole, healthy, unhurt, safe”)^[20]
• Old Frisian: hēl (“unhurt, whole”)^[21]
• Old Saxon: hēl (“whole, unhurt, healthy”)^[5]
• Old High German: heil (“whole, healthy, unhurt, saved”)^[10]

References

1. ^ a b Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 107
2. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailaz
3. ^ a b c d e f g Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 151
4. ^ 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. 200
5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *haila-
6. ^ a b c d e f g Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. haila-
7. ^ a b Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 248
8. ^ Casaretto, Antje (2004), Nominale Wortbildung der gotischen Sprache: Die Derivation der Substantive, Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 218
10. ^ a b c 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. heil¹
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailagaz
12. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 326
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailijaną
14. ^ Ringe, Don (2017), From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 283
15. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailiþō
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailnaną
17. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailisōną
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *hailasamaz
19. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. hails
20. ^ Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hāl
21. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. hēl