*salą

Reconstruction

The neuter *salą is Wiktionary's reconstruction, which keeps it apart from a masculine i-stem *saliz of the same meaning;^[1][2] Köbler likewise sets up a neuter *sala- beside a masculine *sali-.^[3][4] Kroonen heads the word *saliz- and takes both the i-stem *sali- of Old Norse and Old Saxon and the *salaza- of Old English for secondary developments of a neuter s-stem *salaz, genitive *salizaz, from *sol(H)-os, *sol(H)-es-os.^[5] Orel has a single *saliz, masculine or neuter, which he also writes *saliz ~ *salaz.^[6]

Etymology

Wiktionary has it from Proto-Indo-European *sel- (“human settlement, village, dwelling”).^[1]

Morphology

Köbler gives the neuter as a strong a-stem and the masculine as an i-stem.^[3][4] Kroonen reconstructs a neuter s-stem,^[5] and EWA likewise calls the Old High German word a former iz/az-stem which, like most words of that class, went over to the a-stems.^[7] De Vries lists the masculines Old English salor and sele and the neuter sæl in Old English.^[8]

Evidence

The word is found in North and West Germanic: Old Norse salr, Old English sæl, Old Saxon seli and Old High German sal.^[5][6] Of these, Old Norse salr, with the accusative plural salir, and Old Saxon seli point to an i-stem.^[5] Gothic has no simple noun, but it has Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌹𐌸𐍅𐍉𐍃 (saliþwos, “dwelling”) and the verb 𐍃𐌰𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (saljan, “to lodge, to stay as a guest”),^[5] which Feist derives from the stem *sala-, beside *saliz-.^[9] In Old High German the word is recorded earlier in the law codes than in the glosses: the Lex Alamannorum has sala (“living room”), and Old Dutch sala and seli occur, mostly in place names, from 639 on.^[7] Köbler cites personal names with the word from the 4th century,^[3] and Orel and de Vries a Swedish runic name, ⟨saligastiR⟩.^[6][8] Kroonen calls the Germanic word identical to Old Church Slavonic село (selo, “field, abode, tabernacle, village”);^[5] Orel also compares Lithuanian salà (“island”).^[6]

Competing analyses

The sources divide the material differently:^[1][6][5] Wiktionary and Köbler set up a neuter a-stem and, separately, a masculine i-stem;^[1][3] Orel has a single noun of either gender;^[6] Kroonen has a neuter s-stem from which both the i-stem and the type of Old English salor developed.^[5] Orel records an older proposal by Grienberger, connecting Latin soleō (“to look after, to care for”), and Meringer's addition of solum (“floor”).^[6]

Meanings

1. house, dwelling^[1][3]
2. hall, main room^[1][5][3]

Old High German also used the word for a farm building,^[7] and Old Saxon for a barn.^[10] In the Völuspá, de Vries notes, Old Norse salr also has the sense "ground".^[8]

Derivatives

• *saliþwō "dwelling", which Wiktionary forms from *saliz,^[11] and Kroonen writes *saliþwō-.^[5]
• *salją "building, barn, shed; room, chamber", a diminutive of *salą or *saliz;^[12] from it, *saljô "roommate, companion".^[12][13]
• Compounds in Orel: *sali-ʒastiz "guest in a hall", *sali-warđaz "hall-warder",^[6] *xauxa-saliz "high hall"^[14] and *ƀeura-saliz "beer hall",^[15] the last Wiktionary's *beuzasaliz.^[16]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: salr (“building, hall”), a masculine i-stem^[17][18]
• Old English: sæl (“hall, room, house, castle”)^[19]
• Old Saxon: seli (“house, hall, room, manor”)^[20]
• Old Dutch: sala, seli (“main building”)^[7]
• Old High German: sal (“house, hall, farm building”)^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *salą
2. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saliz
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sala-
4. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *sali-
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 424
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 315
7. ^ a b c d e 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. sal¹
8. ^ a b c de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 461
9. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 242
10. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sėli
11. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saliþwō
12. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *salją
13. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *saljô
14. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 166
15. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 44
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *beuzasaliz
17. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. salr
18. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. salr
19. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. sæl
20. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. SELI