*laubą

Reconstruction

The word is *laubą in Wiktionary,^[1] *lauƀan in Orel,^[2] and the stem *lauba- in Kroonen and Köbler.^[3][4] Kroonen sets up *loubʰ-o-, a European word with no clear PIE etymology.^[3]

Etymology

Wiktionary gives two explanations: from Proto-Indo-European *lewbʰ- (“to break off, to peel off”), through *lowbʰ-o-m, or a pre-Germanic *lowpóm, perhaps from *lewp- "to bend, to peel".^[1]

Morphology

A neuter a-stem;^[4][5] Kroonen gives masculine or neuter;^[3] Gothic has both genders.^[6] EWA takes the neuter as a collective derived from a masculine "leaf", which survives only in Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs).^[5]

Evidence

The word is attested in all three branches: Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆 (lauf), Old Norse lauf, and Old English lēaf, Old Frisian lāf, Old Saxon lōf and Old High German loub in West Germanic.^[3] Wulfila's Bible has the masculine plural Gothic 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐌱𐍉𐍃 (laubos, “leaves”) at Mark 13:28 and the neuter accusative singular, "foliage", at Mark 11:13.^[6] In Old High German it is glossed from the end of the 8th century.^[5] Outside Germanic, Kroonen compares Russian луб (lub, “bast”), Lithuanian lubà (“plank”), Old Prussian lubbo (“bast, plank, shelf”) and Latin liber (“bark, rind”).^[3]

Competing analyses

Orel sets it equal to the Slavic Proto-Slavic *lubъ (“bast”) and relates it to Latin liber (“bast”), Old Irish luib (“grass”) and Lithuanian lúoba (“bark”); he lists Beekes's view that the word comes from a substratum.^[2] De Vries found the etymology disputed: most probably to Lithuanian lùpti (“to peel”) and the Slavic verb for "to split off, to peel", or better to an IE root *leubh-; he also reports Trier's link with Greek "to pluck", pointing to the stripping of leaves for winter fodder.^[7] Feist too joined it to the Slavic and Baltic verbs for "to peel".^[8] The noun is unrelated to the adjective *lauƀaz "valuable" and the noun *lauƀō "leave, permission", which Orel derives from *leubh- "to like".^[9][10]

Meanings

1. leaf, foliage^[3][2][4][1]

Old English also used it for "shoot" and "sheet of paper",^[11] and Old High German for "leafy branch" and "canopy of leaves".^[5]

Derivatives

• *laubjōn "foliage?",^[12] whence Old High German louba (“shelter, hall, porch”).^[13] The loan Finnish laipio (“beam or board of a ceiling”) is generally taken to come from the Germanic form.^[13]
• *luftuz "air, sky", a tu-stem from the same root, which Kroonen thinks first meant a roof of bark.^[14]
• *lubją, which Kroonen links etymologically with the word for foliage.^[15]

Reflexes

• Gothic: 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆𐍃 (laufs, “leaf”), also neuter 𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍆 (lauf)^[8][6]
• Old Norse: lauf (“foliage”)^[7]
• Old English: lēaf (“leaf, foliage, shoot”)^[11]
• Old Frisian: lāf (“foliage, leaf”)^[16]
• Old Saxon: lōf (“foliage, leaf”)^[17]
• Old High German: loub (“leaf, foliage”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *laubą
2. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *lauƀan
3. ^ 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. 328
4. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *lauba-
5. ^ 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. loub
6. ^ a b c Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. *laufs
7. ^ a b de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. lauf
8. ^ a b Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. laufs
9. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *lauƀaz
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *lauƀō
11. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. léaf
12. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *laubjō-
13. ^ 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. s.v. laipio
14. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 342
15. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 341
16. ^ Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. lāf
17. ^ Tiefenbach, Heinrich (2010), Altsächsisches Handwörterbuch / A Concise Old Saxon Dictionary, Berlin / New York: De Gruyter, p. s.v. lōf