*falwaz

Reconstruction

The adjective is *falwaz in Orel and Wiktionary,^[1][2] and the stem *falwa- in Kroonen, Köbler and Heidermanns.^[3][4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Indo-European *polHwós (“pale, gray”), from the root Proto-Indo-European *pelH-.^[2] Kroonen writes the PIE form *pol-uo-, and Heidermanns *poluo-.^[3][5]

Morphology

A wa-stem adjective.^[6][7] Heidermanns notes that the suffix -wa- is common in adjectives of colour, as in *salwa-.^[5]

Evidence

The adjective is found only in North and West Germanic: Old Norse fǫlr, Old English fealo, Old Saxon falu and Old High German falo.^[3][5] Gothic does not attest it:^[8] Köbler sets up a Gothic *falws only from French fauve and a Provençal form.^[8] De Vries cites a runic Swedish accusative ⟨faluan⟩ on the Sigtuna box of about 1050.^[9] Wiktionary gives only a reconstructed Old Frisian form.^[2]

Competing analyses

Kroonen compares Latin pullus (“drab-coloured, sombre”) and Lithuanian palvas (“light yellow, straw-coloured”).^[3] Orel and Heidermanns call the adjective identical with the Lithuanian word and with a Slavic one, Orel's *polvъ "yellow, whitish", and Orel connects it further with Ancient Greek πολιός (poliós, “grey”) and the Indo-European root *pel-.^[1][5] Bammesberger points instead to Ancient Greek πελιός (peliós, “dark”) for the root.^[10]

Meanings

1. pale^[3][5]
2. grey;^[2] fallow^[4][2]

Heidermanns notes that in North and West Germanic the word means above all "pale yellow", but it also names other dull colours; in Old English it was used of horses, and of roads and the sea as "grey, dark".^[5]

Derivatives

• Orel's *falwiskō(n) "hot ashes", in Old Norse fǫlski and Old High German falawisca;^[11] EWA explains the Old High German word as formed with the suffix *-iska-.^[12]
• Köbler's verbs *falwēn and *falwōn, "to become fallow".^[4]
• Kroonen thinks a derivation of *falkan- "falcon" from this adjective possible but uncertain.^[13]

Reflexes

• Old Norse: fǫlr (“pale, wan, whitish”)^[14]
• Old English: fealu (“pale, fallow, yellowish, grey, dark”)^[7]
• Old Saxon: falu (“pale, dun-coloured, yellowish”)^[15]
• Old High German: falo (“yellowish, reddish yellow, pale, withered”)^[6]

No Gothic or Old Frisian form is recorded.^[8][2]

References

1. ^ a b Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 91
2. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *falwaz
3. ^ a b c d e Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 126
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *falwa-
5. ^ a b c d e f g Heidermanns, Frank (1993), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen Primäradjektive, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. falwa-
6. ^ 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. falo
7. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fealu
8. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. falws
9. ^ de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. fǫlr
10. ^ Bammesberger, Alfred (1990), Die Morphologie des urgermanischen Nomens, Heidelberg: Winter, p. 243
11. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 92
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. falawiska
13. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 125
14. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. fǫlr
15. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. FALU