*fall

Reconstruction

Wiktionary reconstructs *fall "a fall; death, destruction, downfall" for Proto-West Germanic.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *fallaz (“a fall”),^[1][2] a noun to the verb *fallaną "to fall".^[3] Orel sets up the noun as *fallan, derived from the verb or a substantivized adjective *fallaz,^[4] and EWA calls Proto-Germanic *falla-, *falli- a verbal abstract to *fallan-.^[5] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct the Proto-West Germanic verb as *fallan.^[6]

Morphology

A masculine noun.^[7][5] Its stem class differs between the daughters: Old English has both an a-stem feall and an i-stem fiell,^[8][9] and Old High German fal is an i-stem, as the instrumental singular ⟨falliu⟩ and the accusative plural ⟨falli⟩ show.^[5]

Evidence

The noun is attested in Old English fiell,^[10] Old Frisian fal,^[11] Old Saxon fal^[12] and Old High German fal, from the 8th century;^[5] EWA finds it in all the Germanic languages except Gothic.^[5] Old Dutch has no record of it, but EWA cites Middle Dutch val.^[5] Old Saxon has it in the Heliand and in the Psalms, where ⟨from falle⟩ glosses Latin a lapsu.^[7]

Competing analyses

Wiktionary and Köbler set up an a-stem, *fallaz,^[3][2] but several sources find an i-stem in the West Germanic forms.^[13][14][5] Boutkan and Siebinga take the Old Frisian spellings with ⟨e⟩, such as ⟨fel⟩, to show umlaut, which is not expected before /l/ in closed syllables, and reconstruct Proto-Germanic *falliz and Proto-Frisian *fæl.^[13] Ringe and Taylor reconstruct a northern West Germanic *fælli "(a) fall, collapse", the source of Old Frisian erth-fel (“fall to the ground”) and Old English West Saxon fiell beside Mercian and Northumbrian ⟨fæll⟩.^[14][15] EWA sets up both *falla- and *falli-.^[5]

Meanings

1. a fall^[1][2]
2. death, destruction, downfall^[1]

Old English also used the word for a slope,^[10] Old Frisian for a matter or circumstance,^[11] and Old High German for ruin, overthrow and perdition.^[5]

Derivatives

• Proto-Germanic *erþōfallaz (“a fall to the ground”), which Wiktionary reconstructs for Proto-Germanic;^[16] Orel lists Old Frisian erth-fall and Old High German erdfal (“earth-slip”).^[17]
• *mūsfallā "mousetrap", which Wiktionary reconstructs from *mūs and a feminine *fallā "fall, trap" that it refers to this word.^[18]

Reflexes

• Old English: fiell (“fall, plunge, destruction, death, slope”)^[10]
• Old Frisian: fal (“fall; matter, circumstance”)^[11]
• Old Saxon: fal (“fall, ruin”)^[7]
• Old High German: fal (“fall, ruin, overthrow, perdition”)^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fall
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. *falla-, *fallaz
3. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *fallaz
4. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 91
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. fal
6. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 129
7. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altsächsisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fal
8. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. feall
9. ^ Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Altenglisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. fiell
10. ^ a b c Holthausen, Ferdinand (1934), Altenglisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fiell
11. ^ a b c Hofmann, Dietrich; Popkema, Anne Tjerk (2008), Altfriesisches Handwörterbuch, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. s.v. fal
12. ^ Berr, Samuel (1971), An Etymological Glossary to the Old Saxon Heliand, Berne / Frankfurt: Herbert Lang, p. 113
13. ^ a b Boutkan, Dirk; Siebinga, Sjoerd Michiel (2005), Old Frisian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 1, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. fal
14. ^ a b Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 232
15. ^ Ringe, Don; Taylor, Ann (2014), The Development of Old English, A Linguistic History of English II, Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 244
16. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *erþōfallaz
17. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 85
18. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. *mūsfallā